Mary Duncan October 2, 1938 - August 8, 2025

On August 8th, 2025 Mary Frances (nee Schieber) Duncan passed away quietly in her room at Schuetz Manor (a group home for dementia patients). Two of her children were at her bedside when she fell asleep in the Lord.

Mary was born in Lexington, MO on October 2nd 1938 to Harry Charles Schieber and Katie Evelyn (nee Nance) Schieber. When Mary was still very young Harry moved his family to Detroit, MI. Mary grew to become quite a singer. At 6 years old she sang in a local church’s annual Christmas concert. When Mary was 12 she chose to become a member of the local Lutheran church. Mary remained Lutheran for the rest of her life, singing in choir, raising her children in the faith, helping in Sunday School, volunteering wherever she was needed.

Mary graduated high school. Then at 19 years old she married William L Duncan on January 18, 1958. After graduating college with a Marketing degree William got a job with the US Customs Service. As a result of becoming a federal government employee, Bill and Mary moved their family of 2 then 3 children, often for Bill to climb the ladder in the US Customs Service.

As Bill progressed in his career, Mary learned a great deal about buying and selling houses. She gained skill in picking a quality home to buy as well as learning how to get a house ready to put on the market. This was a great help to the family finances. With every move Mary found a loving church congregation and a decent school to anchor her family in. The place they lived the longest in was St. Louis, MO. Bill and Mary were very attached to this life they had lived for 14 years. However Bill was assigned to a position in Washington DC. When they moved this time only the youngest, Elizabeth, went with them.

During this stay in a suburb in Virginia still close to DC, Mary and Bill started planning their retirement. To help with their savings Mary took on part time jobs. First a job at JCPenneys where she bought a lot of clothes for her grandchildren. Later she worked at a bank and made a hit with her co-workers by designing a reference book that helped all the staff on the job, not just the newbies. As they planned their retirement Mary’s caregiver instincts kicked in again so she looked into moving to where her parents had retired to. Yes they could afford to live in Marianna, FL. Next step: find a house.

Retirement in Marianna was good. Mary and Bill joined a Lutheran church and made many good friends there. Mary enjoyed her parents’ company and fell naturally into helping them as their health failed. Mary and Bill were hosts to all sorts of visitors: their  family, guests of the church, friends from St Louis. Mary’s brother moved to Florida a few hours away. It was fun getting to know him again but his health went downhill and Mary brought him home to take care of him till he passed away. Friends at the church put on a celebration for them in honor of their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Mary dearly loved her women friends from church. She was especially close to the choir director there.

Eventually Bill’s and Mary’s ailments increasingly got in the way of their activities. Bill became bedridden and Mary became his caregiver. She took care of her husband for 3 years before he passed away. Like many caregivers, Mary was worn down from neglecting her own health. Soon she was headed back to St Louis where two of her children still lived.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Harry Schieber and Katie Evelyn Schieber; husband William Duncan; brother Wayne Schieber; brothers-in-law Kenneth Bieber and John Duncan; father-in-law William Arthur Duncan the II; mother-in-law Nellie Duncan.

Mary is survived by: Sisters-in-law Diane Bieber, and Milly Duncan; her children starting with the oldest and their spouses; William Arthur Duncan the III, and Karen (nee Meyer) Duncan,  Kathryn (nee Duncan) Werner and William Werner,  Elizabeth (nee Duncan) Marsella and Richard Marsella; Mary’s grandchildren Christina Duncan, Mary S. Duncan, Robert Duncan, Richard Duncan, Joshua Werner and his wife Stephanie (nee Vega) Werner, Nathan Werner, Brianna Werner;  Mary’s great grandchild Maxton Werner.

Services:  There will be a visitation followed by a memorial service on Friday August 15th, 2025. These events are to be held at Peace Lutheran Church in South County. (737 Barracksview Rd. St. Louis, MO 63125) The visitation starts at 2:00 pm , ends at 2:55pm. The memorial begins by 3:00pm; ends in about 30 minutes.

Flowers or Donations to the Alzheimer’s Association is not necessary but appreciated.