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IRMA WAGNER DR. Age 100, a resident of Los Ranchos, NM died Saturday June 2, 2012 after a long and productive life. Two sons, Dr. Paul R. and wife Marilyn, Los Ranchos, NM and David L. and wife Mary of Flagstaff, AZ survive. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Lisa Duncan Goedecke, Eugene, OR, Patrick S. Duncan, Los Ranchos, NM, David B. Duncan, Denver, CO, Frederick S. Duncan, Eugene, OR, Christopher M. Duncan, Dixon, CA.; and eight great-grandchildren. Her husband, David R. L. Duncan, M.D., Ph.D. and parents, Carl Richard Wagner and Emily Leue Wagner, preceded her in death. She was born on January 30, 1912 in a German immigrant neighborhood of Buffalo, NY. She attended public schools and lived above "Leue's", a family meat market. In 1933, she graduated from the University of Buffalo with a degree in chemistry and went on to graduate school at the University of Chicago to study medicine and biochemistry. While there, she met her future husband. Following her marriage in 1937, the birth of two sons, a move to Cleveland and then Denver in 1941, WWII, and completion of medical school by David, she completed her PhD in biochemistry at the University of Chicago in 1950. In Denver she taught chemistry at both Colorado Women's College and the University of Denver and carried on research. In 1959, the family moved to Juneau, Alaska where David was the director of Maternal & Child Health for the Territory and later the State of Alaska. She continued her career as a research biochemist at the Arctic Health Research Laboratory first in Anchorage and later in Fairbanks. Following the death of her husband, in 1972, she moved to Atlanta, GA where she worked as a senior biochemist at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. During her career as a biochemist, she authored many research papers and presented her work at scientific meetings. Following her retirement in 1982, she moved to Albuquerque and assumed the role of an active grandmother. Over the next 30 years, she volunteered countless hours as a docent at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and the NM Museum of Natural History & Science, served on the Manzano Day School Board of Trustees, and sang for many years with the choir at the First Unitarian church. At age 80, she built her "dream" home in Tinnin Farms where she served on the Homeowners Association Board and was a regular participant in their Book Club. A Memorial is planned for a future date.
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