Obituary of Emile de Planque

DUKE Husband. Father. Brother. Grandfather. Uncle. Friend. To all he met. Island Boy. Hawaiian. Virginian. Artist. Marine. Jokester. King of the Puns. Writer. Reader. Flirt. Problem Solver. Traveler. Caretaker. Adventurer. These words represent just a few of the very many things that Duke was, in his life and to those who loved him. It would be impossible to sum up the scope of his full life in a few words, and this is by no means intended to try. Instead, these words are just the beginning of the many stories we will tell about Duke, stories that will never be forgotten. Duke's earliest memories were of his idyllic childhood in Hawaii, growing up as part of the large, loving Walker family. He told many stories of the great Walker parties at Wood Street and the Walker beach house in Lanikai. Duke attended the Punahou School, and was delighted to reconnect with his classmates years later. He became an active member of the Punahou alumni association. Duke never quite got over leaving Hawaii as a teenager and moving to the East Coast, but he continued to visit the islands his whole life long. He also loved his life in Virginia—in fact, Duke loved everywhere he traveled. It was a family joke that if Duke visited a place, he immediately wanted to live there. Once he moved to Virginia he put down roots quickly. He attended The Lawrenceville School and McLean High School, and was a graduate of the University of Virginia. Duke made friends everywhere he went, including his time in the United States Marine Corps. Duke met Taffy in 1966 in a class on Russian history at the University of Virginia. They married that November, and soon started a family. Their daughter Suzanne was born in 1968, followed by sons Ian (1971) and Tom (1973). One of his greatest joys was being a grandfather to Isabel Aranda de Planque and Walker Gigliotti. Duke was also extremely close to his brother, Tom Wood; and his sister Mic Michelson, as well as his enormous extended family and countless dear friends. Duke was the epitome of a "hands-on" father: from coaching teams, to serving as a PTA officer, from chaperoning field trips to masterminding elaborate science projects. Through these many activities he met many people that became lifelong friends, or "ohana", a Hawaiian word that means family. Duke worked to AT&T for many years, becoming an expert in the AI field. He also worked as a consultant for Mindbank. After retiring, he began a whole new career as an artist. His photos and paintings won many awards, and were displayed in museums and shows, including the Art League, the Torpedo Factory, the Waterford Festival, and many galleries in Hawaii. Throughout Duke's life, he sought adventures of all sorts. He found the magical in the ordinary—he could make a car ride into a mythic journey, a storage closet into a dragon's lair, and an A.A. Milne poem into a bravura performance. He always wanted to try the next new thing. In his last days, he smiled at the quote from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, "To die will be an awfully great adventure!" We know that he truly has gone on to that next great adventure. ………………………………………………………………… A Memorial Service will be held on September 12th at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Chantilly, VA. Funeral services will take place at Oahu Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii in late October.