 duckett family duckett family ray mon 1132014 1124 albert duckett albert duckett 19071978 was born october 28 1907 at springfield illinois the son of reginald vernon duckett 18681953 and lottie louise biggs duckett 18791933 he was the fifth of their seven children harold vernon duckett 18981968 marcia louise duckett 19011994 married ray counihan 18861963 florence elizabeth duckett 19021989 married wallace sale henry oliver duckett 19041990 albert duckett 19071978 warren biggs duckett 19131996 and doris arline duckett 19152004 married john molek 19011994 reginald v duckett was born near chapin morgan county illinois he made his livelihood working for the railroad division of the us postal service 1900 sangamon co illinois t623 343 p 2a ed 98 and 1910 1920 and 1930 cook co illinois federal census t624237 p 7a ed 5 t625357 p 2b ed 3 and r413 p 5a ed 1980  artist before 1910 the reginald v duckett family had relocated to berwyn illinois where albert duckett was educated in 1926 he found employment with  the chicago american   a major chicago journal as an artist he later became a syndicated cartoonist with  the   chicago herald examiner  in 1936 the ducketts relocated to detroit where he was the editorial art director for the detroit times  a william randolph hearst 18631951 publication some of mr duckett s historic assignments were covering the alphonse capone 18991947 trial in the fall of 1931 and spending a day with the dionne quintuplets who were born in ontario province canada in 1934  the daily herald april 21 1978 p a2 and the ocean springs record december 2 2004 p b4  family this image was made at fort hood texas in 1944 lr  helen uhalt duckett  19081987  helen merrill duckett  19351997  albert bruce duckett  b 1940 and  albert duckett  19071978 courtesy of bruce duckett and alice p duckett in september 1931 albert duckett married helen pauline uhalt 19081987 a native of new orleans helen was the daughter of richard alfred uhalt 18781924 an insurance salesman and nona onion 18801958 a hoosier whose father john onion 18361911 owned a steamboat in the crescent city after helen s father had expired at new orleans in september 1924 helen and nona relocated to berwyn cook county illinois here they resided on oak park avenue helen worked for bedell s as an advertising manager while her mother who had remarried and was widowed from a mr westermeier made her livelihood as a surgical nurse 1930 cook co illinois r 413 p 8b ed 2912 helen and albert duckett had two children helen merrill duckett 19351997 born in oak park illinois and albert bruce duckett b 1940 born in detroit michigan during ww ii mr duckett while a resident of detroit enlisted as a private in the us army in july 1944 at fort sheridan illinois he served his country illustrating weapons training procedures such as assembling and disassembling the m1 garrand rifle and hand grenades  albert b duckett april 28 2007 the sun herald    november 16 2003 p i1  helen m duckett helen merrill duckett 19351997 called merrill was born september 12 1935 at oak park illinois she married carey l frazier jr 19331973 in harrison county mississippi on march 2 1957 the marriage ended and merrill married michael thomas burke also in harrison county mississippi on march 30 1968 her final wedding was with samuel hurd spivey jr 19231979 their nuptials occurred in the 2 nd judicial district of harrison county mississippi on january 18 1975 harrison co mississippi circuit court mrb 108 p 209 mrb 137 p 548 and 2 nd jd mrb 10 p 401      merrill duckett spivey expired on november 3 1997 her corporal remains were interred in the biloxi cemetery albe rt bruce duckett albert b duckett called bruce was born at detroit michigan in 1940 and reared in biloxi where in the mid1950s as a teenager founded the chariots an automobile club which specialized in customizing cars which at the time was a california phenomenon bruce graduated from biloxi high school in 1957 and matriculated to mississippi state university were he studied mechanical engineering at mississippi state university bruce met alice pulliam a native of meridian mississippi while she was a student at mscw now mississippi university for women at columbus they married in 1963 and as newly weds made their home in the hellmers cottage at 918 calhoun avenue bruce s engineering career brought him to california louisiana and south carolina as well as a twentyeight year stint locally at ferson optical company and a later 5 year stint at morton international while a resident of ocean springs in january 1969 he founded the osyc along with bache whitlock 19152002 dr richard t furr 19292006 a russell moran 19301981 william r allen 19111985 and janet ferson green bruce is remembered as an avidly competitive and successful sunfish and hobie cat sailor bruce was also a longtime member of the planning commission and assisted the aldermen adopt a comprehensive zoning ordinance for the city of ocean springs  the ocean springs record july 27 1972 p 1  alice p duckett is the icon of local historic preservation she began her crusade to protect our historic homes and buildings in the 1970 her work culminated with the september 1989 enactment of the local historic preservation ordinance alice has chaired the ocean springs historic preservation commission since 1996 bruce and alice p duckett have reared three children nancy alice baker of ocean springs merrill anne stahura of hickory nc and albert bruce jr of biloxi biloxi while albert was in the military helen u duckett brought the children to biloxi where she had spent many summers after his discharge albert joined his young family on the mississippi gulf coast and in 1946 the ducketts commenced a business the biloxi potterygiftland on central beach boulevard they sold among other ceramics and notions the fine shearwater pottery of the anderson brothers of ocean springs albert also was an employee of  the daily herald  from 19461949 in their advertising department he also continued to practice his fine art skills while at biloxi primarily doing portraits of such notable men as fred b ferson 18981969 the founder of ferson optics company of ocean springs and glenn lyle swetman 19011994 long time president of people s bank of biloxi as well as his grandchildren and other clan members albert duckett expired at biloxi in april 1978 his corporal remains were interred in the biloxi city cemetery helen u duckett lived until december 6 1987  albert b duckett april 28 2007 the sun herald    november 16 2003 p i1 the daily herald april 21 1978 p a2 and the sun herald december 8 1987 p a4  albert duckett gallery when a sponsor for an art gallery in the mary cahill o keefe arts and cultural center was needed bruce and alice p duckett came forward to donate money time and intensive labor they desired to have albert duckett s syndicated editorial cartoons and personal art work memorialized in a permanent venue the albert duckett memorial art museum opened on october 24 2004 this was the second room in the structure to be completed with some private funding joey milsted rice was named gallery curator  the ocean springs record october 28 2004 p b4 and december 2 2004 p b4    references  193 views  