Mayo McKinnis Duke (Tulia)

Tulia, Texas—Mayo McKinnis Duke, 83, died Saturday, July 15, 2006 in Tulia. Services with military honors will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, July 17, 2006 in the First United Methodist Church with Dr. Bruce Parks and Rev. Ernie McGaughey officiating. Mayo’s cousins, D. Minor and Donna Bennett of Athens, Texas will provide special music for his service. Mr. Duke was born May 26, 1923 in Lockney, Texas to Thomas Elgin and Cora Gertrude Duke. The family moved to Tulia in 1925, they were members of First United Methodist Church in Tulia. He graduated from Tulia High School in 1940, and then from Texas A&M University in 1950 after two stints at school interrupted by service in the Army Air Corp. during WWII. After four years in Carson County, first as an instructor i the Veteran's Vocational Program and later as manager of the County ASCS office he returned to Tulia to manage the family farm. He married Joyce Measles on July 30, 1960 in Tulia. Mayo never met a stranger and loved to visit and reminisce with old friends and family--he will be greatly missed! He was an avid crossword puzzle solver, and regularly attended the Swisher County Retired Senior Volunteer Program lunches where he was known for his practical jokes and antics. He raised American Quarter horses and sheep, and bred and trained Border Collies to become working livestock dogs. He held Border Collie working-dog demonstrations at the Swisher County Museum on many occasions, as well as in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the Gilcrease Museum. He always said to note on his tombstone that “He knew the dog.” He is preceded in death by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T.E. Duke, and his wife, Joyce Measles Duke. Survivors include: his daughter, Kathleen Golden and her partner, Tamara Link of Holly Springs, North Carolina; sisters, Ethelyn Duke and Fonda Matsler of Amarillo, Texas; nieces, Dana Norrell, Dede Webb, and Joanie Measles Higgins, and nephew, Dan Matsler and their families of Amarillo, Texas; nephew, Todd Measles and his family of The Colony, Texas; and nieces, Jennifer King and Rebecca Dunlap and their families of Plainview, Texas. The family suggests memorials to the Don and Sybil Harrington Cancer Center, 1500 Wallace Blvd., Amarillo, Texas 79106.