Sunday Service for Fallen Firemen

KINGDOM CITY -- Three firemen from around the state who died on duty will be honored during a ceremony Sunday morning at the Missouri Firefighters Memorial in Kingdom City.

In addition to those who died in line of duty, the memorial also honors firemen who had more than 10 years of service. Their names are included in a separate area of the memorial.

Four Fulton firemen who died of natural causes after their service ended will be honored this weekend at the memorial. They are: William C. Whitlow, Velbert M. Nickelson, John W. (Dub) Keely and Howard Henderson.

The Callaway Lodge 105 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F) will host its annual Candlelight Service at 9 p.m. Sataurday at the memorial.

The 8th Annual Firefighters Memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Memorial. Callaway Lodge 105 of the I.O.O.F. will serve a light breakfast from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. before and after the 10 a.m. ceremony.

A bell will be rung during the ceremony to honor the memory of each fallen firefighter honored this year.

Last year Duncan's name was inscribed on the Firefighters Memorial.

He died at the age of 80 while fighting a fire at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house on the Westminster College campus.

Duncan helped found the Volunteer Fulton Fire Department and served as fire chief for 33 years and as a Fulton fireman for 52 years.

He operated a tin shop in Fulton as his full-time occupation.

Two years before he died fighting the fire, he was honored on Sept. 12, 1944, by the city of Fulton with "Duncan Day." Several hundred people gathered at the City Park for a program in tribute to Duncan.

Duncan has no known relatives. The firefighters organization has asked that anyone who knows a relative of Duncan to notify the relative of the ceremonies at Kingdom City this weekend.

His obituary in the Fulton Sun Gazette reported his wife was Clara Annie Huggett Duncan. They had four sons, Harry Grant Duncan and Willis Singleton Duncan of Alexandria, Va., Mitchell Grant Duncan of Detroit, and Henry Shirley Duncan of Jefferson City.

Duncan was a member of the local I.O.O.F. Lodge from Oct. 7, 1895 until his death.

Duncan had served as past Noble Grand of the Fulton Lodge and was a member of its board of trustees. He was instrumental in getting the old lodge building on Court Street erected. The building formerly housed the JC Penny department store and now houses Cornerstone Antiques.

Duncan also was a Mason from 1923 and he was a member of the First Presbyterian Church.

Although the Fulton Volunteer Fire Department was not formed until 1896, Duncan headed a volunteer bucket brigade in 1894.

In 1896, Fulton Mayor W. Ed Jameson and Duncan established a volunteer fire department. Their equipment was a hand-drawn cart, a small hose and rubber buckets.

Later the volunteer department obtained motorized equipment and was brought up-to-date with modern equipment.

A full-time Fulton fire chief was hired after Duncan's death. Duncan and other Fulton firefighters were paid on a part-time basis until his death in 1946.

Two Westminster College students who were not members of the fraternity that burned admitted they started the fire after a night of heavy drinking.

The Firefighters Memorial at Kingdom City was dedicated May 18, 2002. On the black granite walls the names are inscribed of all known Missouri firefighters who have died in the line of duty. The first was Fred Turnbull of the St. Louis Volunteer Fire Department in 1838.

The Firefighter in Prayer statue is actually the second one. The original statue was in transit through New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, en route to the planned memorial in Kingdom City.

Missouri firefighters wanted to honor immediately the New York firemen who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and decided to give the statue originally intended for the Missouri Firefighters Memorial to the New York Fire Department.

On Sept. 19, 2001, the New York Fire Department accepted the gift of the first Firefighter in Prayer statue from Missouri Fire Service. The gift was in honor of the 343 firefighters who died in collapse of the World Trade Center.

The original remains in New York City at 8th Avenue and 41st Street and was one of the first 9/11 Memorials erected.