Passed away on October 27, 2025, after a 19-year battle with metastatic thyroid cancer. Born on April 2, 1942, Duane was the youngest child of Carlton Friederick Schlitter and Mardella Henrietta Louise (Kruse) Schlitter. Duane grew up on the family farm in Linton Township, IA. Duane graduated from Monona/Farmersburg High School in May 1960. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Wartburg College, then obtained his master’s degree from the University of Kansas. He then accepted a position with the African Mammal Project at the Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. Under a new program, he was able to enroll for a doctorate in zoology at the University of Maryland while working full-time at the Smithsonian, finishing his degree in 1976. In September 1973, he accepted a curatorial position at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA. At that time, he was approached by the US government to help identify confiscated imported endangered trophy mammals and cultural artifacts. He helped the US Fish and Wildlife Service develop a federal forensic facility in Ashland, Oregon. In 1997, he became the Director of the Museum Park, Pretoria, South Africa. In 1998, Duane and Judy moved to College Station, TX, where Duane worked for Texas A&M University. He retired from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division in 2008. Duane was a Patron member of the American Society of Mammalogists and life member of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa. He was a co-author of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife. While living in Pittsburgh, Duane volunteered with 4-H Allegheny County and the Penn Hills Friends of the Library. He was also a frequent guest speaker in many elementary schools throughout Allegheny County. On June 30, 1963, Duane was united in marriage to Judith Spratt. Two daughters, Tamara (Tammy) (Craig Darden) and Tanya (Roger Stewart), were the result. Judy passed away from cancer in May 2007. Duane remarried Reba Laurie Robbins in January 2009. He is survived by his wife; daughters and husbands; five grandchildren, Alexandra Darden, Rachel (Coleman) Barnacascel, Jonathan Darden, Luke Stewart, and Kylie Stewart; sister, Beverly Walsh; sisters-in-law, Anita Schlitter, Donna Spratt, Leola Westendorf, Karen Spratt, and Myrna Spratt; numerous nieces and nephews; and extended relatives. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Judith; both parents; brothers, Ronald and Eugene; and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. Duane was extremely proud of his great-grandfather, William Schmitt, who, although a fairly recent immigrant to America, volunteered to fight with General U.S. Grant’s Union Army in the Mississippi Campaign to Texas, including the Vicksburg Siege, and, according to his military records, was present in Galveston in June when Emancipation was announced.
All obituary information has been taken from the funeral home, newspaper or other online resource.
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