Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Jim Duncan passes away

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Posted by Freddie Dobbs (Member # 915) on 08-23-2001, 11:40 AM:

I am sad to say Jim Duncan Owner of Cinema Equipment & Supply of Deactur Alabama passed away this weekend and was buried today he was a good man that wil be missed.

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 08-23-2001, 12:05 PM:

A true gentle man in all senses of the word.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 08-23-2001, 12:58 PM:

I am really sad to hear this. I made a trip out to Decatur a few months back to talk to him about the history of theatres in the Decatur and Huntsville areas. Obviously, he knew a lot and he went over my information and made some corrections and suggestions. I believe he was to turn 80 soon and his daughter told me before I interviewed him "not to wait too long". When I saw him, he seemed in good health and very active and his mind was still sharp. I certainly did not expect him to pass away so soon.

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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 08-23-2001, 02:41 PM:

Here is the obituary from the Decatur Daily:

James Adam Duncan
79, theater equipment dealer
James Adam "Jim" Duncan, known for managing Decatur movie theaters for years, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2001, in Savannah, Ga., after suffering a brain aneurysm during a business trip to Vidalia, Ga. He was 79.

Funeral will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at Central United Methodist Church with the Rev. Mitchell Williams and the Rev. John Clotfelter officiating. The body will be at the church one hour before the funeral.

Burial will be in Roselawn Cemetery. The family will receive friends tonight from 6 to 8 at Roselawn Funeral Home.

During the 1960s and 1970s, most moviegoers in the area knew Duncan as manager of Decatur's four theatres: Bowline Drive-In Theatre, Gateway Rocking Chair Theatre, Princess Theatre and Thunderbird Drive-In Theatre.

Mr. Duncan was born Sept. 22, 1921, to John Dallas Duncan and Mary Burleson Duncan in Spruce Pine, N.C. He showed his first movie at about the age of 12. A few years after graduating from Mitchell County High School, he managed or owned many theaters in the western North Carolina-eastern Tennessee region. He worked for Crescent Amusement Co., the same company that owned the Princess Theatre in Decatur.

Duncan served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European Theater as a company clerk. After Germany surrendered, the Army gave him a jeep, a projector and a generator, and sent him to show movies to soldiers in France and Germany.

He came to Decatur in 1960 to manage the Bowline Drive-In for United Amusement Co., which also owned theaters in Florence, Albertville, Guntersville and Boaz. Duncan left for a short time in 1971 to open and operate a Shoney's Restaurant in Cleveland, Tenn., but returned in 1973 to his old job. In 1978, he opened Cinema Equipment and Concession Supply Inc. in downtown Decatur and serviced theaters from New York to Honduras, as well as local ball leagues.

He was president of the Decatur Kiwanis Club during its 50th anniversary, and served many years on the boards of the Salvation Army and Central United Methodist Church. He taught Sunday school and was treasurer of Good Fellowship Sunday School Class.

Survivors include his wife, Lucille Ollis Duncan; a son, James Robert Duncan of Decatur; a daughter, Cathy Duncan Wahl of Decatur; and four grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be James Alan Duncan, Michael Robert Wahl Jr., Shane Williams, Shannon Williams, Willie Raybon, Leonard Raybon and Ralph Freehauf.

Good Fellowship Sunday School Class members will be honorary pallbearers.

Memorials may be made to the Central United Methodist Church Building Fund.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 08-24-2001, 09:21 AM:

On the marquee of the Princess Theatre in downtown Decatur, on the left marquee, the following was placed:

IN MEMORY OF JIM DUNCAN
1921-2001

I drove by it last night on the way back home from seeing a movie at Regal River Oaks.

Hopefully, I'll have a chance to get a shot of it before it is taken off, or hopefully, his daughter who works for the Decatur Daily, has a shot of it.

Posted by Harry Robinson (Member # 265) on 08-24-2001, 11:34 AM:

I am deeply saddened by the news of Jim's passing. Over the last couple of years he was a good friend to me. He always took time to talk or visit, and he answered all of my stupid questions. He was a true gentlemen. He called me his Methodist friend. He will be missed. The world has one less great guy.