Duane Gregory Carlson, MD, PhD.
March 2, 1940 – March 21, 2026
Duane was born in Chicago, Illinois and 5 years later, his family, including two younger sisters, Gloria and Roberta, moved to Bensenville, Illinois. As a child, Duane enjoyed playing in the woods and playing pickup football and baseball. He also focused on academics, winning a scholarship to the University of Illinois, where he majored in electrical engineering and finished first in his class. While there, he applied for a research grant from the Carnegie Foundation to study how new villages were being created in the Amazon when new roads were put in. He received a prize for his study.
Duane then went to Stanford for graduate work in quantum electronics, earning both a Master’s and PhD degree. He was honored with a three-year National Science Foundation grant to support his studies. He then went to IBM to do research in physics, publishing 23 papers and giving talks throughout the United States and Europe. Duane eventually grew tired of physics and decided to pursue a second career in medicine. He attended Medical School at the University of Miami, then did his internship and residency at the University of Oregon, followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology at UCLA. Enchanted by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, he decided to settle in the region. He practiced gastroenterology at Valley Medical Center for 31 years where he served as Chief of Medicine and the President of the Clinical Staff. He maintained close connections with several of his colleagues, which he valued greatly and he had a standing lunch date with several of his former partners on a regular basis.
Outside of his professional life, Duane was passionate about the outdoors, physical activity, lifelong learning and his family. He was also an avid Seahawks fan and had the joy of watching the Seahawks win the Super Bowl not long before his passing.
Duane met his wife, Beth, while playing racquetball. She was a championship player and he found her to be “outrageously interesting”. The two of them shared a passion for adventure and love of the outdoors. They hiked, biked and windsurfed in the warmer months, including cycling in the American West and in Europe. In the colder months, they could be found backcountry skiing, even summiting Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. Duane was an expert at picking backcountry skiing routes, monitoring avalanche risk and safely guiding Beth and others on these expeditions. Despite careful planning, Duane always had a multitude of harrowing tales to tell!
In his later years, Duane contended with Parkinson’s Disease. He approached his disease with acceptance and strength and found that maintaining physical activity helped fight off disability. He loved that his doctors considered him the “poster child” of managing Parkinson’s. He then developed leukemia and he spent his last weeks on hospice and remained in good spirits. This gave many of his loved ones the gift of the opportunity to spend time with him and say goodbye. It also gave Duane the opportunity to share wisdom that he had learned over his 86 years. He inspired his family by his positive attitude and strength. He shared that he found great importance in putting one’s needs aside to help others and to always treat others with kindness.
Duane is survived by his loving wife of 35 years, Beth Perkins Carlson. He is also survived by his daughters Heather (Matt) Stringer, Erin (Brennan) Reilly, stepchildren Kier (Julie) Huehnergarth, Erin Huehnergarth and grandchildren, Haley, Kira and Ethan Stringer and Devin and Maya Reilly and step-grandchildren Ella and Leo Huehnergarth. He is also survived by his former spouse Marilynn Cerny Carlson and his sister, Roberta (Bill) Haag.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Blood Cancer United, The Nature Conservancy or The Mountaineers.