Erick Charles Duesing, PhD.  was born on March 22, 1939 at family farm in rural Hiawatha KS,  first son of Paul and Anna Keup Duesing.  He was baptized and confirmed at St Paul Lutheran Church, Fairview, KS.  He attended schools at Mulberry, Morrill, and Hamlin; graduating from Hamlin High School with the class of 1957.

Erick received the first National Merit Scholarship in this area, and enrolled at Kansas State University to study nuclear engineering, and was quite active in student activities, and in  his fraternity, Beta Sigma Psi. He then transferred to University of Missouri at Columbia for his junior year for his fraternity.

After that year, he left school to join the Army (1961-65), attending the Army Language School at The Presidio, Monterrey, CA to study Korean language.  He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his work with the Army Security Agency in Korea, very rarely done.

After his discharge from the Army, he re-enrolled at Missouri, where he completed his bachelor and master’s degrees in economics, and met and married Carolyn Ann Bruner, who was receiving her degree in Library Science.  They were married on their graduation day, May 1967.  They were later divorced.

They moved to North Carolina to pursue advanced degrees, with Erick going to University of North Carolina for doctoral studies in econometrics (predictive economics)  and Ann  to Duke.  Erick’s PhD thesis was theoretical in nature, and involved abstruse mathematics (which made it hard to publish).  Erick kept refining his method for a couple of years before successfully defending his thesis.

He taught at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo; State University of New York, Brockport; Scranton (PA) University; University of Kansas schools of business.  All the time, he worked with DARPA projects for the Department of Defense, and attended several NATO conferences in Europe and Turkey.

Erick and Ann were parents of one son, Christopher.  Unfortunately, in the early 1990s, Erick’s health began to fail, and he had to retire.  He spent the last few years in group living. He passed away at a nursing home in Scranton on July 17.

Erick is survived by his son Christopher, who lives in Chicago, IL area; sisters Carolyn Vermilyea of Newton, KS; Joyce (Bill) Goodwin of East Syracuse, NY; and Grace (Vernon) Klaassen of Sedgwick, KS; brother Wesley (Linda) Duesing of Hiawatha, KS.  He was preceded in death by his mother (car accident in 1955); youngest brother Dwight in 1981; and his father Paul in 1994.

Services for Erick are scheduled for 11:00 AM Saturday, August 23 at Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Hiawatha KS.  Pastor Michael Dunaway will officiate.  Inurnment will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Hiawatha, with military honors a courtesy of the Brown County Veterans Honor Guard.  

Memorials may be made to Erick Duesing Memorial Fund in care of the funeral home. 

A special message may be made to www.chapel oaksfuneralhome.com