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Bernice was the youngest daughter of Hugh Carlton Lyons and Ida Marjorie Matthews. There were seven children—six girls and one boy. Hugh had come out from Minnesota with his uncle and homesteaded land on the Horse Heaven Hills, in eastern Washington, dry wheat country. Ida’s family were already established wheat farmers. Hugh and Ida married and wheat farmed for several years.
When Bernice was about three years old, her mom went to work outside the home to help with the income for the family during the Depression years. She was seldom home after that time. Bernice was the youngest of the children and by the time she was 10 years old, she and her older brother Homer were the only children still in the home. She was raised by her dad and became the primary homemaker and cook for the family.
Bernice was engaged to marry Delbert Freeman Duke, a young sailor home from the war, on her 15th birthday, and a couple months later in October of 1947 they were married. Delbert was stationed in Key Port, Wash., where they lived for the first five years of their marriage. This is where their first three children Dee, Cliff, and Matt were born. They then moved to Kodiak, Alaska, where Laura was born.
Bernice, along with four kids and a big dog, moved up and down the West Coast for three years following the ship that Delbert was on. The youngest of their five children, Jeff, was born while the family was stationed in San Diego. In 1957 the family moved to Midway Island where they lived for two years.
Delbert retired from the Navy in 1960 after 21 years of service. They moved their young family to Myrtle Creek, Ore., where they bought their first farm. By the time Delbert retired from the Navy the family had moved 23 times.
In 1965 they sold that first farm and bought a dairy farm in Trout Lake. Bernice was just 58 years old when her husband, Delbert, died in January of 1991 from liver cancer.
In 1996, Bernice and her son, Jeff, and his wife, Beki, sold the family dairy farm and bought the old Trout Lake School, which is now known as Camp Jonah. At the age most people are retiring, she put all her time, talent and treasure into providing a Christian camp experience for many in the Mid-Columbia area.
Bernice was known for her grit, as well as her faith. If she felt something needed to be done, nothing could stop her! She lived and thrived and made a difference in Trout Lake since 1965 where she died peacefully on Nov. 29, 2019 at age 87.
Bernice is survived by her five children and their spouses, 24 grandchildren and their spouses, and 85 great-grandchildren — and many others who lovingly call her “grandma.”
To plant a tree in memory of Bernice Duke as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.
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