Duane Lee Scroggins September 05, 1932 – May 14, 2019 Share this obituary Send Flowers View/Sign Guest Book| Send Private Condolences| Send Sympathy Card Duane Lee Scroggins, 86 of Walla Walla, passed away peacefully at his home on May 14, 2019. Duane was born September 5, 1932, in Springfield, OR, growing up the eldest of a large and close extended family. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1949, and served during the Korean War aboard the USS Higby (DDR 806) and the USS Naifeh (DE 352) earning several medals including the Korean Service Medal (6 Stars).
He received an honorable discharge as a First Class Petty Officer in September 1953. He then attended and graduated from Oregon State University with a Civil Engineering Degree. He married Dorothy Swearingen on May 25, 1958, before moving to San Francisco.
He worked in various engineering pursuits in the Bay Area until they returned to Oregon in the late ‘60’s. He was the Public Works Director in both Roseburg and Medford and owned an engineering firm before moving to Walla Walla in 1983 where he worked as the Public Works Director until he retired in the early 1990’s. An award-winning hunter and fisherman, he took up nature photography after retirement, travelling to every state in the country plus five countries on three continents.
It also led him to participate as contributing photographer in three books on Western geography. He was immensely proud to be a part of these publications and enjoyed exploring far, out of the way places to get the best “shot”. He was a proud Papa, a lover of learning in all its forms, an adventurous spirit with a quirky sense of humor.
He was a teacher to many, a great dad, and he will be missed. Duane was preceded in death by his wife, Dot, his son, David, and his sister, Vada Dicus. He is survived by his daughter Darinda Coble, her husband Bill and their son Jeremiah; daughter Darla Steiner, her husband Jack, and their children Olivia and Diego; his brother Dwight Scroggins; and sister Ardith Hinman.
A celebration of his life will be held at 11:00AM on Thursday, May 23, 2019 at the Walla Walla First Congregational Church, followed by an inurnment ceremony with military honors at Mountain View Cemetery. Following his wife’s death, Duane set up the Dot Swearingen Scroggins Endowment for nursing students at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. We ask that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his memory to this Endowment through the Umpqua Community College Foundation.
Their mailing address is PO Box 967 Roseburg OR 97470. Please name the endowment (Dot Swearingen Scroggins Nursing Scholarship) on the correspondence or another charity of your choice in honor of Duane’s love of learning and the outdoors. The Herring Groseclose Funeral Home has been entrusted with the final arrangements.
SERVICES Celebration of Life Thursday, May 23, 2019 11:00 AM First Congregational Church 73 S. Palouse Street Walla Walla, Washington 99362 Get Directions on Google Maps Burial Thursday, May 23, 2019 12:00 PM Mountain View Cemetery 2120 S. 2nd Ave.
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