A. Adgate Duer ’39

Ad died March 7, 2015, at his home on the Eastern Shore of his native Maryland.

He attended Gilman School and Kent School. Ad was in the ROTC program, but he deferred entrance into the Army until receiving his law degree from the University of Virginia. He rose from second lieutenant to major in field artillery, serving in North Africa, Italy, and Bulgaria. It was in Algiers that he met a British nurse, Phyllis Bolton, whom he married in wartime Naples in November 1944.

Ad practiced law his entire career at Niles, Barton & Wilmer. He served on many boards in Baltimore and on the vestry of his church. Ad loved sports, including squash, in which he competed as an undergraduate. He played golf until he was 95.

In 1979, Ad summed up what he had learned since graduation: “Something about the Army, something about the law, something about people, something about life and — never lose your sense of humor.”

Ad is survived by his wife of 21 years, Katherine; two daughters; a son; a stepson; and numerous other family members. The class salutes our honors graduate, who wrote in our 50th yearbook that “There is no limit to the areas yet to be looked into.”