Frederick Roy Duncan


Frederick Roy Duncan, often known as F. Roy Duncan, was an engineer and architect. His architectural practice was based in Columbus, Georgia, where he was born in 1886 and where he is buried.

Education, personal life, and career

He attended Columbus' public schools, then Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn, Alabama, graduating in 1907 with a Bachelor of Science. He was married in 1908 to Lillian Eason, of Columbus; the couple had no children. Duncan apprenticed at Westinghouse Electric Mfg. Co. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1910 he began work related to the Panama Canal: assembling and "putting into operation" various electric equipment, then designing switchboards for the Gatun power plant, for power distribution, and for lighting; then designing other electrical, mechanical and structural elements.
In 1913 he began the practice of Architecture in Columbus and maintained such business for a period of thirty-four years until his death. His professional work lives after him in the form of numerous structures consisting of residential, commercial and institutional as well as large scale housing, all bearing silent, eloquent testimony to his skill as a designer and his talent in the field of structural creation. Dignity and beauty characterize these public buildings, their design combining both utility and distinction, often with original touches that quickly reveal their authorship. He scrupulously adhered to the ethics of his profession and his standing with his brother architects was very high. He designed and built "Duncan Hall" at Spring Haven, his country estate, on the River Road, in 1940-1942, on the site of an original log house he had maintained as a summer home since 1922. He was a member of St. Paul Methodist Church, Georgia Society of Historical Research, Charter member of Kiwanis Club and formerly a member of the Columbus Country Club. His wife was the President of the Georgia Division of United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1946-1947. His favorite diversion was fishing and it was on one of his loved fishing trips that his final summons came. In the quiet of a beautiful spot, while returning from Standing Boy Creek, which flows through his estate, he was stricken with a heart attack and his quiet, sweet life came to its close. He was buried in Linwood Cemetery in Columbus.

Personal

He was married in 1908 to Lillian Eason, of Columbus; the couple had no children.

Works

His works include: