Duane Woodrow

As the old year of 2025 came to an end to step into 2026, so did Duane's earthly life come to an end to step into his heavenly life.

Duane David Woodrow, age 91, of Kingman, IN passed away on January 4, 2026. He was born at home (Covington IN) on June 29, 1934 to Glen and Mary (Grismore) Woodrow, the oldest of five children.

He attended grade school at Cates and graduated from Kingman High School in 1953. After graduation, he continued farming with his father and then later on his own.
He married Phyllis (Sackmire), his high school sweetheart, on December 18, 1955. She survives, and they just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

They lived in the Covington area for a few years before moving to the farm near Wallace, IN where they raised their four children, Tracy (Geoff) Canfield, Todd (Shelly) Woodrow, Trudy (Jeremy) Link, and Tim (Tami) Woodrow, all of Kingman.

Being a farmer all of his life, Duane always kept a keen eye on his crops, and everyone else's. He always had at least one ear of corn in his truck, keeping track of maturity and size, and before the advent of Roundup, always had a crew of teens cutting weeds out of beans every summer.

Duane's other occupation for forty years was being a basketball referee in many of the local schools. He always encouraged a fair game and sportsmanship by the players. His words to every young person, athlete or not, were "Work hard."

Basketball was not the only sport Duane loved. He was a dedicated Fountain Central sports fan to all the teams, especially when his kids, then grandkids, and now great grandkids were playing. But even in years when he didn't have a family member playing, he would find some players to "adopt" and then watch them just as avidly. He always kept a scoring record on every program at every game. Fountain Central recognized his devotion to FC sports on many occasions, giving him a Lifetime All-Sports season pass many years ago. They lost a lot of money on that!

Duane also enjoyed hunting mushrooms and had a very keen radar for spotting them, often from several feet away. He always had a garden and especially loved sharing the excess with friends. Duane was also supportive of the Fountain County 4-H programs and enjoyed all aspects of the 4-H Fair. He and Phyllis also took many trips, traveling to Hawaii, Alaska, Cancun, Florida, Nebraska and to St Louis Cardinals games. They also co-owned the Kingman Oasis with Trudy and Jeremy from 1991 - 1995 and Duane loved visiting with all the customers there.
Duane attended church most of his life, and made sure it was a priority for his family, attending and active at Scott's Prairie Christian Church and in later years, Kingman United Methodist Church. He had accepted Jesus as his Savior, and was baptized on Easter Sunday in 1969.

In 1997, Duane and Phyllis moved into the house where they currently live, which was built by his grandfather. He installed a pond on the farm, which then served as the location for numerous family gatherings.

God spared Duane's life on at least two occasions. After getting checked out from a minor fender bender in 2001, it was discovered that he needed immediate quadruple bypass surgery, a condition that had previously gone undetected. Then in 2016, he was run over by a tractor and came out with very minor injuries.

In addition to his wife and children, Duane is survived by nine grandchildren, Madison (Brison) Scott, Sam ( Mackenzie) Woodrow, Ethan (Morgan) Woodrow, Mackenzie (Owen) Randolph, Olivia Woodrow, Brie (Jeffrey) Marquez, Trent Newby, Caleb (Hannah) Newby, and Marc Newby; and nine great grandchildren, Ellie, Kash, Finlee, Monroe, Gus, Macoy, Everly, Maguire, and Haven. He is also survived by two sisters, Glenda (Forest) Boling and Sue Anderson. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Ronald Woodrow, and sister Ann Ellis.

Visitation services will be held at the Fountain Central High School gym, on Sunday, January 11, from 2:00pm - 5:00pm. The family request you wear your high school letter jacket in Duane's memory. There will also be a visitation on Monday, January 12, at Sanders Funeral Care, 203 S 1st St, in Kingman from 10:00am till the time of the funeral service at 11:00am with Pastor Steve Crum officiating. Burial will be in the Kingman Fraternal Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be considered to the Duane & Phyllis Woodrow Scholarship Fund. Donations can be made online https://www.wicf-inc.org/donate?fund=Duane+%26+Phyllis+Woodrow+Scholarship+Fund or mailed to: Southeast Fountain Community Foundation, ATTN: Duane & Phyllis Woodrow Scholarship Fund, PO Box 95, Veedersburg, IN 47987. Envelopes will be available at the visitation and funeral. Share memories or condolences online at www.SandersFuneralCare.com.