Family:Charles Duncan, Sr and Margaret Tart (2)

Charles Ross Duncan was the eldest of nine children born to Benjamin Ross and Rosa Bell Turner Duncan. He grew up in Clayton, North Carolina, a small town located some 20 miles east of Raleigh. Following graduation from high school in 1926 he began his college career at Wake Forest College, Wake Forest, North Carolina. He earned his B.S. degree in 1931 and later earned his B.S. in Medicine from Wake in 1933. He was a member of the football team, was a Golden Glove Boxing Champ, and an excellent swimmer. While at Wake he was also a member of the college band and played a trumpet.

Following his Wake career he entered Duke University Medical School and received his M.D. in 1938. While at Duke he met a local beautician, Margaret Louise Tart. They were secretly married in Halifax County Virginia on 9-28-1936 by the Rev. C.C. Jones. Rev. Jones was a local Methodist minister. The Virginia license was issued by E.C. Lacy, Clerk of the Halifax County Virginia Circuit Court. The marriage remained a secret from all family members except Rosa Duncan and Lula Tart as they feared his medical career could be jeopardized if school officials knew he was married. Margaret continued to live and work in Raleigh while Charles continued his education at Duke. The secret was maintained until his graduation in 1938.

After graduation dad served an internship at Rex Hospital, Raleigh, North Carolina. He moved on to Gastonia Cripple Children's Hospital and then to the Spartanburg General Hospital, Spartanburg, South Carolina. From Spartanburg, mom and dad moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina where dad served as the first Surgical Resident at Bowman Gray Medical School. While in Winston they lived in the home of Dr. Bimbo at 629 West End Blvd. It was there they met Herman and Mary Dalton through Mary's sister Lucy who had been a client of mom in Raleigh. Margaret continue to work as a hairdresser until Charles completed his tour at Baptist Hospital. While in Winston on 10-16-1940 he registered for the draft.

His first venture into private practice was in Radford, Virginia (May 1941) where he joined Dr. Rufus DeHart as the only surgeons between Roanoke, Virginia and Bristol Tenn./Va. World War II broke out and dad felt compelled to join the fray. He applied to the Naval Department for a Commission in the Naval Medical Corps. A number of prominent citizens of Radford (John Goldsmith, Jay Kirkwood, etc.) heard of dad's plans and scheduled a trip to Washington, D.C. to block his attempt to join the Navy. Dr. Duncan caught wind of their plans and raced to Washington arriving ahead of the group, and secured his appointment. He was commissioned a Lt. JG in the Medical Corps and reported to his first duty station in New York, New York in July of 1942 where he served as the Medical Officer in Charge, New York Naval Yard Dispensary. The family lived in Queens until he was transferred to the Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

He served aboard the USS Kimberly during much of the Pacific Campaign as its Medical Officer. Dr. Charles and his ship earned 4 Battle Stars together until the Kimberly was returned to Mare Island for repairs following being struck by a Japanese suicide plane in 1944.

Following the war he returned to Radford where he remained except for a brief tour in Whiteville, North Carolina. Following retirement he and Margaret lived a number of years on Oak Island, North Carolina before moving to Winston-Salem, North Carolina where they both lived out their lives.