Obituary of Duane Ann Decker

Duane, fondly known by most friends as simply, “Decker” passed away on the beautiful afternoon of Friday, May 17, 2019 at her home on Lake of the Ozarks. She passed peacefully, surrounded by friends and family.

She was a fiercely free, witty spirit, who had a passion for anything Africa. That, and cheeseburgers!

There is nowhere on the planet that she had not visited, or had plans to visit.

She was born in Roswell, New Mexico October 26th, 1945. Her father, Robert Decker was stationed there during WWII. He was coach of the Army Air Corps baseball team, Joe DiMaggio being one of his players. Her beautiful mother, Cleo, was a homemaker. Her mother wanted her to have some ancestry in her name, hence “Duane”, which she said was an Irish Celtic name meaning  “poem” or “song.”

Duane was raised near Los Angeles in Manhattan Beach, California, spending her younger years surfing and playing sports.  During high school, she was in a small four-person band. One of the members was classmate Steve Martin, the actor and comedian. She was in the first class of women to be admitted to California State Polytechnic University (Cal-Poly), an engineering school in Pomona, California.

After college, Duane was a school teacher in Tacoma, Washington for a few years. Then, she got the urge for travel. She was hired by Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1971, and as a flight attendant, travelled the world. She trekked the Himalayas, set foot upon Antarctica, and took a five-week train trip from Beijing to St Petersburg, Russia on the Trans Siberian railroad for her honeymoon in 1997, just to name a few adventures. There were many more. But she always found her true passion on the African continent.

A gifted photographer, she made no less than fifteen trips to Africa, always going on safari, and simply enjoying and capturing its wild beauty, wild animals, and cultures.

She was also a private pilot, having earned her license in 1974 while living in New York City.

Duane requested no services, and wished that her ashes be spread in Africa upon the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, and also the Serengeti, all part of the vast Rift Valley in Tanzania, and which continues as the Masai Mara in Kenya. 

She is survived by her husband, Bill Crawford (The couple was affectionately known as “The Crawdeckers”), her brother Robert (Marlene) Decker of Pasadena, California. Nieces Karen Decker, currently posted with the US State Department in Kabul, Afghanistan and Heidi (Shane) Fausel of Phoenix, Arizona. Many other great-nieces and great-nephews fill out the spectrum of her family.

She and her husband started a nonprofit organization in 2007 called ABCs For Africa. It supports schools in sub-Saharan Africa that provide free education to HIV/AIDS-affected widows and orphans. Their nonprofit is currently in a transition phase, so please consider a memorial donation to one or more of Duane’s favorite charities; The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (gorillafund.org), Boys Town (boystown.org), or St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org).

A “Celebration of Life” will be held at Redhead Yacht Club at Lake of the Ozarks, Tuesday, June 11, 2019.  It will begin at 5:30 pm.  Friends are welcome to attend.