Jesse Malone Duke
Oct 12, 1935 - Nov 1,  2009
HHS  Class of 1953 who attended Jesse's funeral were:

Clyde J. Arnold, Jr., Frances Shearer Arnold, Iris "Mutt" Byers Bohanon,  Johnny M
& Barbara Cox, Betty Jo Hays (honorary member),  Audrey Light and Sok Keith,
Katie Lester, Athel Dean "Seaweed" Roach, Roy Seymour, Terriel and Bobbie
Sparks, Bonnie Shirley Sinyard, Johnny and Dottie Tabor,  Howard Thornton and
sister Gennie T. Harris, Jane Gammill & Donnie Tunstall.  

Ava Honeycut Formby and Phillip and Linda Gilbert  attended visitation on Tuesday.
Memories
by:  Barbara Taylor Burke,  (friend)

My first and fondest memory of Jesse was when  we  were  pre-
school age.  We lived with  my  Grandmother  Reynerson  on the
property where the hospital was  for  a  time  and   later Arnold
Plaza, 1900 S. Main, Hope.   We  were  content   playing   cars
under the oak trees  using locust  shells  as  cars  and  building
moss roads,  catching  fireflies  in  jars as  darkness  came,  and
just being kids.   Jesse was a block  N.  of  there,  oldest  child
in  his  family.   Among  these  childhood  memories  in  that
neighborhood  are  others  in  the  picture:   Tommy  Doyle
(deceased) and Claudette Doyle  Jackson  Wilson  who  visited
their relatives across the street from us and joined in the fun.  To coin a phrase, new
friends are like silver but old ones are gold!  There is some "gold" there for me in that
prized photo!

After a 50-year-interim, we saw Jesse at our HHS Fiftieth-Year Celebration, my first
to attend.  We visited with him and his wife (Rose) Carolyn whom I had known at
Crossett High School where I graduated.  My, my what a coincidence that my
childhood friend had married my high school friend--not having met in Arkansas--but
in that far-off state of  movie stars, sailors and marines--California.  As I understand
it, they met in a Sunday School Class Jesse taught. Travis (a man of few words)
commented more than once how friendly Jesse was at our reunions.

This year on his October 12 birthday I sent Jesse an electronic birthday card.  Am
hoping he received it and knew I was still a life-long friend.  Jesse told me recently of
some humorous happenings of our two families in our early days.  We had some good
laughs together on the phone as well as some serious conversations about classmates
and family within the past six years.  (I'm re-hearing that  familiar voice as I type.)

It was my privilege to have known Jesse as a small child and to meet up with him
again in our older years and know of our shared Christian beliefs.  He will be missed
by all who knew and loved him.  Carolyn, please stay in touch as you are an
"honorary member" of our class and we care about you!

With love and condolences to the family,

Barbara Taylor Burke
HHS through 10th
graduate of CHS '53
November 13, 2009
Graduate of Hope High School 1953               U.S. Marine Corp 1954 - 58
You can't keep a good man down.                                                            
English IV Club; football 1-4; basketball 1-3.
Memories
By:  Clyde J Arnold, jr.
The picture above evokes fond memories of Jane, (Jesse’s first wife in the pink
outfit)  and Jesse Duke who were a very special couple to me. Both had the patience
of Job from the Bible. In the photo Benja and I were talking to Bert and Harriet
Chamberlain in middle in background. All of us are watching John Gilbert and Mary
Jo Fincher Curtis showing us all how to "cut a rug" like they did back in the 50's.

Jess never attended another reunion after 1993 until 2003. After Jane’s death, Jesse
was married to Bessie and lived a short period of time in TN.  I believe Jane, Bessie,
and Carolyn all knew each other in California and were friends. Jess and his Mom
stopped by my home in Bartlett, TN once when Benja was still living--around 1999. I
was at the health club working out and talked to him on the phone. I had visited Jesse
and Jane in California in the mid ’80’s while there in L.A. District Court working on
the “Death of my Federal witness/murder/mail-fraud cases.”

I went to work with Jesse  that Sat. and we had to rise at 4 a.m. to start his catering
business. (That was an experience!) The next day I attended church with him and
Jesse was the Sunday School teacher who knew his Bible very well. His first two
wives, Jane and Bessie, were members of The Church of Christ; Carolyn is a Baptist
Church believer as was Jesse.  We all attended First Baptist Church in Hope, AR in
our early years before he joined the Marines in 1953.

We had a lot of great times together over our lifetime and this was just a few of them.
I remember playing basketball with Jesse at the Bruce's home next to HHS in our
early teens and visiting the Dukes at their home across the street from Bobby Bruce. I
spent a lot of time with his family and knew all the boys and Peggy well. The Bruce
family were the golfers and the Duke Family had a son on the football team for at
least a decade for the Hope High Bobcats.

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Duke were/are special to me, raised a special group of siblings,
and I am proud to have known them all. Johnny was the youngest and I remember
when he wore diapers.

I think Peggy was next to Johnny in age. I remember Peggy saying once to me that she
“messed up her dad's baseball team but she could hold her own with the boys and had
to." They are all very special friends over these many years.

I can remember spending the night with Jesse & Peggy at Mrs. Harold Duke's home.
Johnny was there with his son who had a breathing problem. Mrs. Harold Duke would
try to make Jess and Peggy smoke outside because the air from smoking was harmful
to Johnny's baby's health. They would just open the window in her great room
thinking the smoke would go outside and they would continue fellowshipping way
into the night after I had gone to bed. This was a very close family for as long as I
could remember.

Jesse, Donna Russell, Lynn Russell, Sonny Ellen, Patsy Samuels, and I had many
good times in our HHS years double and triple dating together some of which I have
written about already under other memories. (See memories on Donna Earl Russell
Nafe and Jimmy Mullins.)

I could remember forever the things involving Jesse and family as he was a very
special dear friend, Boy Scout Troop 67 member, and football/basketball player.  
Jesse is sorely missed by me and  all of his classmates.

These are some special memories involving my friend, Jesse Duke, who is now with
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love in Christ Jesus to all.

Clyde
                                    Memories
 
                        by:  Ginny Thornton Harris

I have many fond memories of Jesse Duke.  He and my oldest brother, Howard
Thornton, were classmates.  I felt as though I knew all the 1953 classmates of
Howard.  They were all very close.  Howard considered his classmates family.  It is
amazing to me how close they have remained through the years.

It seems as though I had always known Jesse.  However, my real  acquaintance with
Jesse began when I was dating his brother, Gerald, in 1958.  When Gerald and I began
dating, he had moved to California, and was living with Jesse and  his wife, Jane, in
Cerritos.  Bruce and his wife, Judith, were living in South Gate, California.  We
always had a lot of fun when we visited his brothers.  Jesse enjoyed laughing and
having fun.  I was a young sixteen-year old.  I thought Jesse could tell the funniest
jokes.

I had a really unique first visit with several of the "Duke" family members.  On one
of my earliest dates with Gerald,  Mr. & Mrs. Harold Duke, Peggy, and Johnny were
visiting Jesse.  Bruce and Judith were also visiting on this particular occasion.  
Everything was great; we had a really nice visit.  When it came time for me to go
home, Gerald had gone to sleep in a recliner, and we could not get  him awake.  I was
very embarrased.  Years later, it became funny to all of us.

Later, in 1960 I became a member of this wonderful family when I married Gerald.  
The Duke brothers, sister and sisters-in-law became my family.  They were always a
close family.  

Some of my fondest memories are visiting Mr. & Mrs. Duke in their home in Hope,
every summer for 2 - 3 weeks.  All the brothers and their families would come.  
Looking back, I can not imagine cooking and having enough beds for all those folks,
but Mrs. Duke always managed.  She seemed to enjoy having all her children and
grandchildren there, gathered around the table enjoying her wonderful food.   We
never lacked for entertainment since they always had the funniest stories.

There were many "stories."   Mrs. Duke would tell about how many times, the boys
would play baseball in their yard, and they would almost always break a window.  
They knew they had to have the broken window repaired before their Dad came home
from work.  She said, "They would get on their bike, and pedal as fast as their little
legs could go."  They would get a pane of glass and have the window repaired before
Mr. Duke came home.  Another funny story--when one of them would come in from  
a date, much later than they should be getting in, they would sneak down the hall,
quite as they possibly could.  Then just about the time they had reached their room,
Mr. Duke would suddenly appear and say, "Boy, do you know what time it is?"  I am
sure it scared them.

The influence of Mr. & Mrs. Duke is seen in the lives of their seven children.  Mr. &
Mrs. Duke worked hard raising their family during some difficult times.  They taught
their children well, and loved each of them with the love of devoted, caring parents.  
Even though several of the family members are gone, it is still wonderful to sit and
reminisce with Mrs. Duke.  She is a very young 94-year old.  I tell her that she is the
glue that holds those children together.

Jesse will be missed by many people, especially his family.  On my last visit to Mrs.
Duke's, it seemed strange that Jesse didn't come walking in.  He was such a happy
person to be around.  He was a wonderful devoted Christian man, always trying to
help others.  He had a great love for his classmates of the 1953 class of Hope High
School.


With much affection,

Ginny Thornton Harris
                MEMORIES  OF  MY  FRIEND  JESSE DUKE
                                       BY  HOWARD  THORNTON


I first met Jesse Duke at his cousins,  Bobby Fred Garrett’s, house.  The Garrett's were
our neighbors--they lived on a farm next to my folks' farm at Homan, AR.  (In case you
have never heard of Homan, Arkansas, Homan is a small community between Fulton
and Mandeville on Highway 67.)  I attended elementary school at Mandeville and  high
school at North Heights High School, Texarkana, AR through the 10th grade.  In 1951
my folks sold the family farm and we moved to Hope, AR.

I began attending Hope High School my junior year, Sept. 1951.  Even though I only
attended Hope High School two years,  I made several life-time friends.  We have
managed to remain close friends through the years.

I can’t say that Jesse Duke was my very best friend, but I must say he was one of my
many friends I became friends with while attending Hope High School.  Our group was
a really special group.  Jesse was a football player, and I was in the band.  Somehow,
that did not seem to matter;  we found the same interest in many other things.

Times back in the 50’s in Hope were economically lean, (we did not have much
money); therefore, many times we spent our time getting together at someone’s house.  
On many occasions a large group of 15 -20 would get together and drive out to the
Hope airport.  Sometimes we would use the headlights and radio of the cars to help us
create a dance floor on the airport runway.  Everyone loved to dance.

Most of the time we did not have the money to spend on a “date.”  We would get
together as a group to find our entertainment for the evenings.  On one particular
occasion a few of us decided to go to the drive-in movie.   We had a brainstorm:  Bill
Dudney & Richard Chism  would drive through in the car while Jesse and I would get
in the trunk of the car.  When they got parked inside, they were supposed to open the
trunk, then Jesse and I would hop out.  Dudney & Chism did not open the trunk for a
long time.  Jesse and I kept hollering and banging on the trunk and caused so much
noise they finally had to open the trunk!  

Most of us did not drink alcoholic beverages:  # 1 reason - Hope was a dry county, #2
reason - we probably did not know where to go buy it--if anyone should bootleg .  We
would buy apple cider for our beverage when we would get together.  (Looking back,
we probably thought we were bad.)  One time my Mother sent me to pick up a few
groceries.  (I  jumped at any chance to drive the family car.)  While I was in the
grocery store, I bought a bottle of apple cider.   On the way back home I was making
plans for us to drink the apple cider later that evening when we would get together.  
But, as luck would have it, the apple cider bottle and the buttermilk bottle had a
collision, breaking the bottles and spilling  in the car.  It was a mess to clean up.  I was
in BIG trouble with Mother.

Jesse was usually the one who had the best plans for what we were supposed to do.  
He claimed he knew the best places to go, and always thought he knew the directions
better than anyone.  One night we decided to go “coon” hunting out at the old Proving
Ground.  Jesse was the navigator.  We had our guns,  our dogs, and we were ready.  
We walked, and walked.  We changed directions so many times, we really got lost.  
Jesse led us through swamps; we climbed barb-wire fences,  and waded through muddy
fields.  We were lost, cold and really scared.  About 2 a.m. we finally found the spot
where Jesse had said was the best  place for “coon hunting.”   All of a sudden Richard
Hunt, ( a.k.a. slew-foot) started yelling “Hey, I’ve got one, I’ve got one!”  He reached
down into the log he was standing on and pulled out a skunk.  That skunk sprayed Hunt
really good.  It made all of us sick.  We made him ride in the back of the truck.

One night a big group of us decided to go through town and turn the switch off at the
RED lights,  before the Police got the chance.   Looking back I cannot remember whose
bright idea that was--probably mine or possibly Jesse’s.  One thing is for sure, we were
all in agreement about anything we decided to do.

After Jesse had spent time in the Marines and I had attended college at Southern State
in Magnolia, we became reacquainted while he and I were living in Los Angeles,
California.  Our families had some fun times visiting and spending time together.

These are only a few of the many wonderful memories I have of my 1953 classmates
and Jesse.  The lessons instilled in us from our families, teachers and each other have
helped me through many difficult times throughout the years.  

Jesse Duke was a great friend and classmate.  I will always be grateful for having the
opportunity to have known him and my other 1953 classmates.

With much love and appreciation,

Howard Thornton
Class 1953 HHS
March 18, 2010
Mr. Jesse Malone Duke, 74, of  Hope, AR passed away Sunday, November 1, 2009,
at Medical Park Hospital, Hope, AR.   He was the first child born October 12,1935
to proud parents Harold and Joyce Garrett Duke of Hope.

Jesse attended  school in Hope where he graduated from Hope High in 1953. He
played football, basketball,  and was active in the English club.  In 1954 Jesse joined
the U.S. Marines, served in the Korean Conflict, and rose to the rank of  Master  
Sergeant.  After four years with the Marine Corps, he returned to private life in Los
Angeles.    Jesse married Jane Warren and became a beloved husband, father, and
grandfather.

Jesse had been self employed in industrial catering until he retired and moved back
home to help with his mom who was in a nursing home.  He was an active member of
Southside Baptist Church of Hope  and other local and national ministries. He taught
Sunday School and loved to sing. Jesse was preceded in death by his father, Harold
Duke; one brother, Harold Bruce Duke; his first wife, Jane; and his second wife,
Bessie.

His survivors include his beloved wife: R. Carolyn Madison Duke whom he met in a
Sunday School class he taught while living in California.  Also surviving are three
sons: Michael Duke, Stanton, CA; Gordon Lewis Madison, Agoura Hills, CA; Richard
Cooley, Scottsdale, AZ;  one daughter:  Malinda  Hanania, Buena Park, CA; his
mother:  Joyce Garrett Duke, Hope, AR; four brothers:  Gerald Duke, Hope, AR;
Winston Duke, Richardson, TX; Joe Duke,  Hope, AR; Johnny Duke, Jacksonville,
AR; one sister: Peggy Burson, Farmerville, LA; seven grandchildren, three
great-grandchildren, one step-grandson, and several nieces and nephews, other
relatives, and friends.

The family received friends on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.,
at Brazzel-Oakcrest Funeral Home where his funeral was at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday,
November 4, 2009,  in  the Funeral Home Chapel with Mr. Joe Duke officiating.   
Graveside services were at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Cypress,  CA with arrangements  
by the Brazzel-Oakcrest  of Hope.  
L to R:  Johnny Duke of Jacksonville, AR; Gerald Duke (deceased);  Peggy
Duke Burson  of Farmerville, LA; Joe Duke of Hope, AR;  Jesse Duke
(deceased); Joyce Garrett Duke of Hope, AR, Bruce Duke (deceased),
Winston Duke of Richardson , TX.  
Jesse and Joyce (Mother)