First Name of deceased: LaRue
Last Name of deceased: Duck
Date of Birth: 31 Mar 1908
Date of Death: 3 Mar 1959
Town: Hanover
County: York County
State: Pennsylvania
Country: USA
Nevin LaRue Ellsworth Duck, known simply as LaRue Duck, was born in Centre County, PA on March 31, 1908, to Lloyd Homer Duck and Elizabeth Rebecca “Lizzie” Phillips. He was the oldest of 5 siblings. His older “brother” Andy (real name Clyde) was actually his cousin. Andy’s mother, a younger sister of LaRue’s mother, died in childbirth and Andy was then raised by his aunt. LaRue was a graduate of Mifflinburg Area High School in 1926. Soon thereafter, LaRue and his parents and siblings relocated to Hanover, PA in York County. He married Eva Catherine Moore on December 1, 1928, which was also his wife’s 18th birthday.
Around 1930 he and his wife moved to what remains the Duck family farm to this day – the current address is on Sunset Drive in Hanover. The farm is approximately 100 acres, of which about a third is woodland. Most of the farm crop was for feeding the family; the exception was lots and lots of strawberries that were sold for 50 cents/qt. It is no longer a working farm, but is owned by LaRue’s youngest daughter. From 1930-1950, 5 children were born, each approximately 5 years apart. Due to the relatively large age gap, none of the children were particularly close to each other.
Buying a farm was a somewhat odd transaction as he did not come from a family of farmers. It appears that life on the farm was never easy and was never a source of income. Therefore, he had other jobs, primarily working as a painter. He first worked at the Baltimore Wagon Works plant where he painted lettering and designs onto wagons. At this job, family legend has it that he designed the original Utz girl whose image was portrayed on the Utz delivery wagons and in later years on bags of Utz chips. He later worked for two different body shops in Hanover: Henkel’s and Kuhn’s. Little is known about LaRue’s day to day life other than that he was a very hard worker, spending most of the daylight hours on the family farm or at the auto shop.
He never served in World War II, which was reportedly a great regret for much of his life. Reportedly the recruiter informed him that since he already had a wife and children, he was of more use on the family farm. His “flat feet” may have also played a part in his rejection. His other brothers all served in the war.
LaRue generally did not believe in medical care, unless absolutely necessary. At one point, his son James broke his wrist. This did not merit medical attention as he instead reset the bone himself. As a result, James’ wrist bends very little to this day.
In November of 1958, LaRue suffered a heart attack. Prior to the heart attack he was hunting and shot at what he thought was a rabbit. (He only ever hunted for rabbit or pheasant). The shot ricocheted off a rock, across the nearby creek and hit his neighbor. The neighbor was not injured but he screamed a lot. LaRue feared that he accidentally killed his neighbor and this weighed heavily on his conscience. It is believed that this stress caused his heart attack. 4 months later, on March 3, 1959, LaRue died of a blood clot while working at Kuhn’s body shop. In all likelihood it is related to the earlier heart attack. He was 50 years old. An hour before his death, a pheasant flew into a window at the family farm and died. His wife knew immediately that this meant that someone close to them had died. He is buried alongside his wife, who died in 2006, at Rest Haven Cemetery in Hanover, PA.
Published 9 Sept 2020