Lee Duncan, a 30-year member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 48, passed away May 23 after a long battle with cancer. He was 65.
Duncan was a business rep for Local 48. He was also co-founder of the non-profit Unions for Kids (U4K) motorcycle poker run. The annual event, held from 2003 to 2015, included a poker run, Harley-Davidson raffle, auction, and chili cookoff — with all proceeds going to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. U4K gave away 12 Harleys and cut checks to the children’s hospital totaling $465,000.
Oliver Lee Duncan was born May 12, 1954, in Fort Madison, Iowa. His family moved to Evergreen, Colorado, and later to Baker, Oregon, where he graduated from high school.
A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Duncan joined the Marine Unit of IBEW  Local 48 in 1989 after taking a job at WSI at the Portland Ship Repair Yard on Swan Island. He left the shipyard in 1994 to work as a low-voltage electrician on land. In 1999, while working for Christensen Electric, then-Local 48 business manager Jerry Bruce hired him as an organizer.
Duncan remained on staff as an organizer and later as a business rep until 2009. He went back to the tools for a couple years before being rehired as a business rep in 2011. He worked in that capacity until his retirement in July 2014.
Duncan served on Local 48’s Executive Board, as a delegate to the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, and on the Executive Board of the IBEW & United Workers Federal Credit Union.
Duncan is survived by his wife Kathy, also a member of Local 48. They married in 2008 in a ceremony held at the IBEW Local 48 hall. Other survivors include step-daughter, Amy; sister, Debra Payne; and brother, John.
A memorial service has been set for 3 p.m. Sunday, June 30, at the IBEW Local 48 Hall.
He was Putter to his friends and family in Evergreen. He could by beers and whiskey from old lady Stransky because in 6th grade he looked 21. A best friend, I will truly miss this man, my bud, Putter