Dr. Duke passed away yesterday in Houston, Texas surrounded by family. The link to the video of the presentation of the Peter H. Capstick Hunting Heritage Award (and Dr. Duke's acceptance speech at the 9:15 mark) is attached.

He was a gentleman, a servant leader, a hunter who lived and breathed conservation through sustainable use practices and policy and a true Texan, the likes of whom we won't soon see again.

http://dscnewscenter.org/2015/...k-winner-dies-at-86/

Condolences to all his family and friends.

A great hunter, conservationist, man, and Christian. A profound pleasure to visit with him a few times, talks that made a lasting impression on me. We will, i fear, see few of his kind in the future. A true Son Of Texas.
He will be deeply missed by many.

I've never met the man, but from what I've watched on TV, I think your assessment of him and his character is spot on. Our loss.

As Houstonians we owe Dr. Duke a particularly great debt. He was a pioneer in trauma medicine, e.g., establishing our Life Flight program and Level 1 trauma centers. His contributions to hunting and conservation aside, who knows how many lives he has played a role in saving in Texas over the many decades he practiced medicine in the Texas Medical Center.

damn damn damn i shared camps with red, he was always a super partner. for those who don't know he was the dr that operated on JFK when he was shot. also when lee crashed in alaska he was there and helped. a character in the true sense of the word. the world is now poorer

That's a loss for TX (as a former resident and always will be a Texan). I was just reading about the award on the DSC site recently. I have heard him speak, but never had the chance to meet him.

I took lots of pics of folks with Dr. Duke at this past DSC Convention.

Great guy. Very personable. He joked quite a bit.

I finally said, "I know you don't remember, but we've met before."

"Oh yeah. Where?"

"I was at the Aggie bonfire with some buddies back when I was in high school. We'd been drinking and we stopped to piss in the bushes next to the president's house. You saw us and yelled, "Get on you little assholes!""

He laughed and said he didn't remember that particular but had no doubt it was true.

I said, "Yeah, for days my friends and I went around proudly boasting that the Dr from TV called us assholes"

He laughed again and said he was always there for his fans.

Great guy

I'm waiting to see how long before people on this site bring up Dr. Duke's finances, marriages, or sponsorship deals..

gayne - if anybody has bad words about him - please them up here - i'll be glad to beat some sense into them

I am quite certain he left any enemies, which I strongly doubt this fine man had, any ammo to use against him. Lets wait and see if I am correct. I am quite confident that not a single negative post will be forthcoming.

Another one of the many individuals in Texas that have added that extra sparkle to the brand of the Star.

Great speaker, teacher and individual that so many benefited with his experience in health care with not all episodes perfectly dialed up. Trauma just isn't that way.

When I look at the stars tonight I will see that extra Sparkle

A huge loss to the worlds of both medicine and hunting/conservation. Heard the news this morning through the flight company I work for in NY. His research and enthusiasm was well known throughout the flight medicine community in the US.

Never heard of him but he sounds like fun guy.
RIP Red

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
As Houstonians we owe Dr. Duke a particularly great debt. He was a pioneer in trauma medicine, e.g., establishing our Life Flight program and Level 1 trauma centers. His contributions to hunting and conservation aside, who knows how many lives he has played a role in saving in Texas over the many decades he practiced medicine in the Texas Medical Center.

My first job out of vet school was in Katy, TX at Katy Equine Clinic. Lived in Simonton on FM 1093 which is Westheimer Rd. Back then that was in the country and I only got TV with an antenna. Can't remember the station...but every night I watched the Dr. Red Duke segment. It always ended with: "from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston...this is Dr. Red Duke." Still ingrained in my memory today.

I was introduced to Dr. Duke at a couple of functions when I joined the surgery staff at Texas A&M Large Animal Hospital. Helluva nice fellow he.

RIP Dr. Duke!

quote:

My first job out of vet school was in Katy, TX at Katy Equine Clinic. Lived in Simonton on FM 1093 which is Westheimer Rd. Back then that was in the country and I only got TV with an antenna. Can't remember the station...but every night I watched the Dr. Red Duke segment. It always ended with: "from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston...this is Dr. Red Duke." Still ingrained in my memory today.

Pretty much the same for me almost 40yrs ago living in Natchitoches, La.
Fine man indeed.

quote:

for those who don't know he was the dr that operated on JFK when he was shot

In no way is this an effort to detract from Dr. Duke's well deserved legacy, but that is not exactly correct. He was there, but he operated on and helped saved Gov. John Connally's life.

I think Gato's correct. But this is still a loss. The man was brilliant on the one hand and appealed to the masses on the other. A rare quality. He will be missed on both fronts.

A real gentleman. Met him years ago. Godspeed Red.

Duke was born in Ennis, Texas, in 1928. His family moved to Hillsboro, where he went to high school before attending Texas A&M, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Another proud son of Texas A&M.

Here. (AR Aggies know what this means)

I had the privelige of meeting him when my Daughter was in the hospital and when I was training retrievers we did a few trials on his property East of Houston. He was a great man and did good things for many people.

He will be missed!

.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
damn damn damn i shared camps with red, he was always a super partner. for those who don't know he was the dr that operated on JFK when he was shot. also when lee crashed in alaska he was there and helped. a character in the true sense of the word. the world is now poorer

Red told me that he had no doubt that the shot that hit Kennedy in the head came from the front. Warren Commision never asked him.

I attended one of the DSC dinner auctions a few years back. Dr. Duke was the speaker. One of the big items being auctioned that night was an Alaskan bear hunt.

The unique thing about this hunt was that half of the proceeds were go into a fund named after the outfitters son who was killed in the line of duty serving our country somewhere in the Middle East.

The hunt was valued at $18. Dr. Duke won that bid at $25K. I doubt he even went on that hunt and probably gave it to someone else. Good man!

May light perpetual shine upon him.

I doubt there are many who know or know of Dr. Red Duke outside the medical field or avid hunters from Texas. However I also doubt there is a Texan older than 40 years old who is not aware of Dr. Duke’s reputation in the medical field or the conservation efforts for wildlife!

May he rest by a campfire in the hereafter!
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in camp he would frequently show up with a young intern that had showed promise in medical but also in hunting. He'd pay at least a large part of the hunt expense, show the guy about hunting and at the same time further his medical knowledge around the campfire. Just sitting around listening i learned a hellova lot too

quote:

Originally posted by Nitro Express:
Duke was born in Ennis, Texas, in 1928. His family moved to Hillsboro, where he went to high school before attending Texas A&M, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Another proud son of Texas A&M.

Here. (AR Aggies know what this means)

Here

quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:
I doubt there are many who know or know of Dr. Red Duke outside the medical field or avid hunters from Texas. However I also doubt there is a Texan older than 40 years old who is not aware of Dr. Duke’s reputation in the medical field or the conservation efforts for wildlife!

May he rest by a campfire in the hereafter!
.......................................................................

I'm from the west coast of Canada and know of Dr Duke as a hunter and physician.I think he's very well known.

quote:

Originally posted by Nitro Express:
Duke was born in Ennis, Texas, in 1928. His family moved to Hillsboro, where he went to high school before attending Texas A&M, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Another proud son of Texas A&M.

Here. (AR Aggies know what this means)

Here.

Here!

Here

Probably the best day of my life was spend traveling across Texas With Red Duke. We were both trying to get back to Houston from Midland/Odessa after the tropical storm Allison.

We owe so much to efforts of Red Duke!. Trauma response, an eye witness to history (great story there), big horn sheep in Texas on, and on.

My favorite Red duke quote- He was telling me about making a talk to a bunch of doctors about some procedure. Red said, "They just set there looking at me like a bunch of calves, staring at a new gate!"

I am most fortunate to have spent the day traveling across Texas with Red Duke!
Rest in Peace!

Sometimes the out takes from the TX Health Sciences commercials were better than the real deal. I remember the one where he was to stick his hand out the driver side window of his pickup and catch a falling apple while giving the ending speal. No telling how many times he missed.
He was riding a horse in a gallop down a pasture road on Clayton Williams ranch in a light snow all dolled up in hat and duster. He thought the mike was off and said to the horse, "You are the dumbest SOB I ever rode."
As main speaker at a TX Bighorn Society banquet in Kerrville one night he strolled out to the podium and calmly said, "Call in the dogs and piss on the fire. The party is over." His fairly new wife of the time about went under the table.
RIP Red Duke.