Robert L. Duval
1930 - 2009
Robert L Duval, 79, of Bayonet Pt, FL, went to be with the Lord October 21. 2009. He moved to Florida from Cromwell, CT in 1979.
Robert was the son of the late Irene and Frederick Duval and served as a counter-intelligence agent in the Korean War. He had been in sales for 27 years always winning prizes for his efforts. He had been a strawberry farmer alongside his father-in-law, the late Edward Brauer, for 22 years in Cromwell on Brauer Farm, and in Florida, he grew orange trees; he loved farming. He was also an auxiliary policeman where he was seen directing traffic in white gloves and full uniform in front of St. John Church many Sunday mornings in Cromwell. He was a painter, a handyman,and was active in Hope Lutheran Church.
He was the beloved husband of MaryAnn (Brauer) Duval, to whom he had been married for 57 years. Besides his wife, he leaves his children, Laura McKanna of St. Petersburg, Debra Arthur of Bayonet Pt, and Robert Duval, Jr., of Suffield, CT. He was predeceased by his son Timothy Duval. He also leaves 11 grandchildren and his brothers, Rick Duval of Lincoln, NB and Richard Duval of Durham, CT.
"We will always remember him for his upbeat personality and joking around amid any storm life brought to him."
A letter from his daughter Laura
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your prayers concerning my family and the passing of my father Bob Duval at age 79. I came back from my moms last night with Tom, after attending her Saturday night church 'praise and worship' service that was so awesome. It was a little hard singing the songs, but joyful through the tears because we know Dad is with God and in perfect health, not working hard anymore, and in perfect peace and knowing Joy as we will only know when we get to heaven ourselves.
I was able to see Dad in the hospital right after he died. My sister Debbie was with Mom and her pastor had been there for a couple of hours, during the time he died. He was a great support to them. When the doctors asked if they could stop working on him (they tried for almost an hour to revive him after the blood clot to his heart caused a seizure and his heart to stop) but my Mom graciously said yes they could stop and my sister immediately said 'He is in the arms of Jesus' which almost dumbfounded some of the physicians and nurses. Gave them something to think about as Pastor said some of them were unbelievers. (He knows the hospital and staff pretty well after spending time there over the years.) He said their calm spirit was so different than the 'panic' he has witnessed by others not of faith.
I just wanted to fill you in a little bit on some of how God has been so merciful to us recently. I was able to be with my Mom the past 4 days, and yesterday Tom and Clayton came to do some chores at my moms. One of these 'chores' I gave them to do was to pile up in Claytons truck a lot of 'stuff' that Dad had piled up in the back of the house, like left over gutters from some of the jobs he did. (He did a lot of repair work and painting for a lot of people in their area). He loved to recycle and some of this I'm sure he was saving for other 'jobs'. There was a truckful of 'stuff' that weighed Claytons truck down, but all the recycling places were closed on Saturday and we were concerned about him driving to St. Pete with that load. Tom and I did some errands for Mom and in the parking lot at Sweet Bay there was a large truck next to us with a woman on the phone - with aluminum cans in the back of her truck. Tom suggested I ask her if she would want the aluminum gutters to recycle, told her what we were doing and she agreed to follow us to moms house close by. She ended up taking ALL the stuff from Claytons truck, into her own. Turns out she has a business of 'cleaning out peoples houses after someone passes', .... so I ask you .. is that just a coincidence we happened to 'run into her' .. no I think it was God putting her right where we would be at that moment!
I was able to spend some special time with my mom, reading the bible where we would take turns, she would read 5 verses and I'd read 5, reading chapters in Psalms (119) , Revelations chapters 7, 14, and 21 22, and some others. We also sat on her bed early yesterday morning reading some of the (boxful) of love letters they had written to each other when Dad was serving in the Korean War, and when they started dating. She said she had re-read those recently in the weeks before he died too, and it is good to do that to 'revive' those sparks of that "early" love while your own spouse is still on this earth! I will treasure these moments with my mom forever!
We know that God appoints us each a time to die. He tells us this in His Word. Was it a coincidence that I happened to have a 'chicken pot pie' and pumpkin pie ready to take to someone else, but instead brought it to my moms on Wednesday? Was it a coincidence that Clayton had been in school in some 'expedient' classes where he doesn't have a moment to spare usually, but had just started brand new courses and didn't have classes on Wednesday so he was 'free' to come up and be with us that day? Was it a coincidence that we 'ran into' that gal who was eager to take the stuff off our hands from Claytons truck yesterday afternoon? I don't think so. All our steps are ordained by God. He is in control even when we don't understand. My dad worked a few hours the day before he died. He would have hated to 'not' be able to work. He would have hated to be in a bed where people had to take care of him. God knew what he was doing when he took him home 'in the twinkling of an eye'.
This is already so long, I won't take up any more of your precious time. Be good to one another, and in case you don't already do so, treasure each moment you have with your loved ones and always give them a big hug when you have to say 'goodbye' because you never know when that last goodbye may be!
Dad was always he was the 'best' salesman in all his routes, an auxiliary policeman for 18 years, served in his church countless hours, loved to farm (strawberries in Conn. and as many oranges trees as his yard would allow) and the past 15 years a handyman and painter. He served people in his area - especially the widows - who lost their spouses. He charged them almost nothing, barely more than to cover his costs and a few extra dollars. He had such a big heart! We will miss him greatly but I know we will be together again someday where there are no more tears, where God himself will wipe away our tears because there will be no more need of them in heaven! He said many times in the past year to us 'Don't be sad when I'm gone, I had a good life'. He was preparing us too.
God Bless and thanks for your prayers!
Love,
Laura
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