Duane Linderman

Duane Linderman: December 23, 1932 – February 16, 2019

Early life and family:

Duane was born on the front porch of the family home in Otter Lake, Michigan on December 23, 1932.  The family moved to Otisville, MI where he attended Otisville High School.  “Danie” was active in sports (baseball, football, basketball, and track), president of the sophomore class, honor student, a member of the junior/senior play, annual staff and Post Editor.  After high school in 1951, “Lindy” attended the University of Michigan where he graduated as an aeronautical engineering.  He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. 

He married, had son Michael and moved his family to San Diego in mid-fifties.   His family expanded with the birth of Eric, Julie and Kurt.  He raised his young family in Chula Vista with the help of several nannies after his first marriage ended.  He became very active in his kids sports and coached many little league baseball teams over several years.

Work:

Duane worked at Rohr Industries in Chula Vista for 31 years before retiring in December 1988.  Duane enjoyed a varied career which began in Liaison Engineering in 1958 working on the Convair 880, Boeing 707 and B-52H.  He then worked in Design Engineering followed by R&D where he worked as a research engineer on model and full scale tests for the Jetstar, DC-9 and C-141 thrust reversers. 

In the spring of 1963, he was Manager of Materials & Processing and Quality Control in the Rohr Architectural Division.  In 1965, he was a test engineer in the Rohr test laboratory.  He helped expand the airflow laboratory and build the propulsion test facility at Brown Field. 

His next assignment was Development Project Engineer where he helped sell an inflight thrust reverser demonstration program to the Navy.  He managed the cold flow model test, and a series of wind tunnel tests culminating in tests at the 16 foot transonic wind tunnel at NASA-Langley Research Center.  Duane has two US Patents (Thrust Controlling Apparatus and Integrated Divergent Exhaust Nozzle Thrust Reverser) obtained while working at Rohr.  Next came a full scale design, fabrication and installation on a Grumman F-11 fighter airplane.  Duane was manager of the entire program and wrote many of the performance reports. 

Duane’s next years were spent in a number of management positions including Chief of Engineering Sciences, Chief of Development Project Engineering, Sr. Project Engineer for Business Jets, Project Manager of Advanced Design and finally Technology Manager for Refractory Composites. 

Torrey Pines Ski Club (TPSC):

Duane spent much of his free time participating in TPSC activities and trips.  He was a true outdoors man.  He backpacked, hiked, camped, cycled, and skied (downhill, cross country and raced).  He was Torrey Pines Ski Club’s Snow King in 1979-80 and Race Captain.   He has several ski medals and trophies from ski resorts in California, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Idaho.  He also skied with friends in Europe. 

Linda & Duane:

After his retirement, Duane and the love of his life, Linda, decided to get married after “dating for 11 years”.  They were married at the Officers Club in Coronado in June 1989.   They honeymooned on Tahiti and the Cook Islands.  Their travels included several trips to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the good old USA.  They went on many TPSC trips (skiing, backpacking, road, hiking, canoeing, river rafting, camping, and cycling) with longtime friends.  Duane was famous for his camping/cycling trips to Borrego Desert every spring.

Duane and Linda lived in Chula Vista until 1998 when they relocated to Escondido to be closer to her parents.  Living on a golf course was an added bonus.  They joined the Escondido Country Club where they had many great years of golf, friendships and parties.  Duane got a hole in one on the ECC hole #11 on January 5, 2007.  

Health:

Duane had some heart issues in 2012 and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2013.  He had to give up his love of cycling and hiking due to this disease.  He was diagnosed with GI bleeding and anemia on January 3, 2019 and was admitted to the hospital for tests.  Unfortunately, he fell in the hospital on January 4, fracturing his right hip.  After hip surgery, GI procedures were done which resulted in a diagnosis of colon cancer.  He was released from the hospital to a rehab (for the hip) and finally came home on January 31.  Elizabeth Hospice provided care for Duane in February.  He was improving, but his body was showing signs of organ failure.  His official cause of death was colon cancer.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Duane’s favorite charity, The Salvation Army.  He made annual contributions for summer camp programs and Thanksgiving meals. 

Duane’s Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, March 31, 2019 at the American Legion at 230 E Park Ave, Escondido from noon to 4pm. 

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