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DUANE M. Lt. Col. USAF Ret. Interment with full military honors will be held at Ft. Logan National Cemetery [Area A] in Denver CO at 9:00 am on Friday, 5 August 2011. A reception follows at 11:00 am at the Hilton Garden Inn Denver/Highlands Ranch. A group rate for rooms at the Hilton is available through 22 July. Duane died at home on 7 December 2009 with his family by his side, his remains then being cremated. He was born in Tacoma WA on 28 October 1940 to Emma and John Johnson, both from immigrant Norwegian families. Due to a storm, John, age 2 at the time, and his mother missed the first ship on which they had booked passage to America, the Titanic. Twelve years ago, with the blessing of his wife, his surname was changed to Henden, the original name of his paternal grandfather. His family moved to a farm in the Skagit Valley of WA where he started helping to do chores at the age of three. By the time he graduated from Sedro-Wooley High School, he was repairing machinery and helping to run the farm. After graduating from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma with a degree in Physics, he joined the USAF, first becoming a navigator, then a pilot. Among his decorations was the Distinguished Flying Cross. Duane flew missions in Viet Nam as a FAC. In 1983, a year after his marriage to Pat, when stationed at Kirtland AFB, he retired from active duty. Duane then earned an M.B.A. from Anderson School of Management at UNM and went to work in Santa Fe for the NM State Investment Council, where he worked diligently to ensure that the state's permanent funds were managed with integrity and with the best interests of the beneficiaries in mind. He retired as Deputy State Investment Officer very early in the Richardson administration. After briefly working as a consultant, Duane fully retired and then had time to travel to NY where his son, Erik, attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy and was on their rowing team. Erik now follows in his father's footsteps at Laughlin AFB in TX where he is in AF pilot training. Duane was looking forward to visiting his daughter, Britta, a business major who attends his alma mater, when he succumbed to stomach cancer. We miss him more each day.
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