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Service:
August 25, 2024 at the Mineral Springs Park Pavilion
in Pekin from 2-4 pm.
Obituary
Dorothy J. Duncanson, a long-time
Pekin resident and Tazewell County public office
holder and community leader, died March 31, 2023 at
the Amber Glen Memory Care Center in Urbana,
Illinois. She was ninety-three years and eight
months of age.
Dorothy Jane “Dottie” Miller was born July 18, 1929
on a farm near Kinmundy, Illinois to Hilda Neaville
Miller and Walter Anderson Miller. Dorothy had an
older sister Julia A. Simpson and a younger brother
Walter D. “Bud” Miller, both deceased.
Dorothy attended the public schools in Findlay,
Illinois for first through sixth grades. In 1941 her
family moved to Lincoln, Illinois when her parents
took jobs at the Lincoln State School and Colony.
She finished her education at the Lincoln public
schools, graduating from Lincoln Community High
School in 1947. In 1948 she married William (Bill)
Duncanson of Green Valley, Illinois, a student at
Lincoln College where Dot worked; they moved to
Green Valley. The couple moved to Pekin in 1949 to
be nearer her job at Illinois Machinery in Peoria
and Bill’s job at Corn Products in Pekin. In 1954
Bill started work at Caterpillar. They had two sons,
William Thomas (Tom) Duncanson, Jr. and Alan Scott
Duncanson. Dorothy and Bill remained married until
1981.
Dorothy is survived by her sons Tom and his wife
Vera of Champaign, Illinois and Alan of
Indianapolis, Indiana, whose wife Juliet Appel
Duncanson died in November 2023. Dot’s three
grandchildren are Alice Duncanson and her partner
Eric Hutchison of Urbana, Maryland; Andrew Duncanson
and his wife Lillie Buck Duncanson of Champaign,
Illinois; and Katherine Moore and her husband Jacob
Chittick of Champaign, Illinois. Dorothy is also
survived by five great grandchildren—Will, Parker,
Hazel, Lucas, and Jacob. She cherished her wonderful
nieces and nephew.
When her sons were young, Dorothy served as a Cub
Scout Den Mother, and when the school opened in 1962
became the President of the Sunset Hills School
Mothers’ Club. In 1966 Dorothy and Bill became
involved in Republican politics. Dorothy’s
leadership was recognized, and she was invited to
apply to be the regional manager of the 1970 U.S.
Census. She was chosen and ran the Census for seven
counties in Illinois and Iowa.
The new Illinois Constitution opened State and local
governance in the 1970s, and in 1976 Dot was elected
to a newly reconfigured Tazewell County Board. She
was the Chair of the County Officers, Manpower, and
Health committees, and served on several other
committees of the Board. Membership on the Board
lead to her involvement in writing the County’s
first Equal Opportunity Employment Plan and serving
on the Tazewell County Board of Health. As a part of
her County Board work Dorothy served as the
Secretary of the Illinois Association of County
Board Members.
One of the most unusual and forgotten positions Dot
held was membership on the 1970s era, Federally
mandated, regional Health Systems Agency board.
These organizations had the purpose to make sure
every community had access to good health care, but
they also had the job of stemming inflation in
health care costs by issuing “Certificates of Need”
to block the wasteful duplication of expensive new
technologies such as CT-Scan machines.
In 1982 the Tazewell Circuit Clerk died, and Dorothy
was appointed to the position. She was elected to
the office in 1984, but was defeated for re-election
in 1988. |
From 1989 to 1993 she managed the Pekin
driver’s license, auto registration, and title facility of
the Illinois Secretary of State. She also served as an
appointed member of the Tazewell County Jury Commission.
Dorothy’s final elected office was as the Township Clerk for
Cincinnati Township; she was elected four times, finally
resigning in January 2017 when she was eighty-seven years
old.
Through the years Dorothy served on many
community boards including the Pekin United Way, the
Kickapoo Council of the Girl Scouts, the Eugene Miller
Senior Citizens Center, and the Pekin Woman’s Club. She was
active in PEO and enjoyed their many thoughtful programs.
Dorothy was involved in much of the change of her decades,
often being the first or second woman to hold her position
locally, being a part of huge strides in computerizing court
records, and the coming of the CDL to the world of truck
driving. Of all the decisions in which she was involved, Dot
was especially pleased with the opening of the Miller Senior
Center in Pekin.
Dot’s second favorite thing was playing bridge, and she was
a pretty good bowler. She claimed to have been a Cubs fan
since she was seven. She relished time with her many
friends. But her first thing was her family. She will always
be remembered as an involved parent and protective and
generous grandparent and great-grandparent, and as a very
good cake baker. She loved Pekin and lived in eight of its
neighborhoods all over the city. But deep down, Dottie was a
Lincoln girl, and after retiring poured her energy into
reunions and big birthday parties for the Lincoln High
School class of 1947.
A memorial service will be held for Dorothy Duncanson on
August 25, 2024 at the Mineral Springs Park Pavilion in
Pekin from 2-4 pm. A few words of celebration will take
place at about 3 pm. Anyone wishing to offer a donation in
Dorothy’s memory should consider making a gift to the Pekin
Public Library. |
