Mr. John Henry Duer III, affectionately known as Jack or Jackie, passed away peacefully at Harrison House, of Snow Hill, Md., on July 25, 2020. The son of John H. Duer Jr. and Ruth Kilmon Duer DeMontier, he was born April 2, 1934, at home in Painter, where he grew up with his sister, the late Jane Duer Chandler.
Jack called the Eastern Shore of Virginia “God’s Country,” and loved hunting, skeet shooting, reading, swimming, telling stories and jokes, and remembering the good old days growing up on the Eastern Shore with all his friends. He loved to eat good food, was a worldwide traveler, and spent the winters in Hilton Head Island, S.C. His close friends remarked that you can take Jack out of the country, but you cannot take the country out of Jack.
He graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va., in 1953, where he excelled in football, shot put, and wrestling. He then attended The College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Va., where he met his sweetheart Marjorie Valentine Willard. They were married on the Eastern Shore on May 7, 1955, and enjoyed 65 wonderful years together.
Jack worked with his father at Duer Produce Farms Inc., which had offices in Painter and Pompano Beach, Fla. Eventually, he bought the business from his mother and was a remarkably successful farmer, and always looked after other farmers. He was kind, loving, giving, honest, and hardworking, caring about everyone he met whom he could help. He completed the development of Hillsborough, a residential community in Belle Haven, where he resided for a better part of his life and raised his family. He was a wonderful husband, father, and friend.
He was a giving member and investor in his community, and benefactor to numerous organizations, notably Farmers and Merchants National Bank, Belle Haven Presbyterian Church, the Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation, The College of William & Mary, Salisbury University Foundation, and Episcopal High School.
He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Willard Duer, of Salisbury, Md.; his son, John H. Duer IV, of Tangier, Morocco, and Granada, Spain; his daughters, Read Duer Landen and her husband, of Newport, N.C., and Julie Duer Clayton and her husband, John Henry Clayton, of Salisbury and Ocean City, Md.; three grandchildren, Thomas Duer Landen, Marjorie Read Landen, and Jacqueline Valentine Clayton; and two great-grandchildren.
A service to celebrate Jack’s life will be scheduled and announced in the future … Jack always loved a good party!
In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Jack’s name to any of the following: Eastern Shore of Virginia Community Foundation, P.O. Box 205, Onley, VA 23418 (https://www.esvcf.com/donate)
Memory tributes may be shared with the family at www.williamsfuneralhomes.com
