Lewis Albert Duyckinck, age 86 years, of Ringoes, NJ, died peacefully on Sunday, February 2, 2025, at Morristown Medical Center, Morristown, NJ, after a nearly four-decade long war with multiple types of cancers that he won.
Born on August 23, 1938, in Somerville, NJ, son of the late dairy farmers, Lewis Zachariah Duyckinck and Mary Elizabeth (Wyckoff) Duyckinck Voorhees, Lewis was a lifelong area resident growing up around the Blawenburg, NJ, area.
After graduating from Princeton High School, Lewis worked as a carpenter before joining the United States Army and subsequently the New Jersey National Guard. His skill and industriousness (he was a farm boy after all!) led him to RCA where he had a storied career in their Research and Development group, creating the cabinets and outer casings that held most of RCA’s household products. That old large RCA TV in the wood cabinet you grew up with? Chances are Lewis designed that!
He was truly passionate about woodworking and created toys for his children, furniture, and all sorts of intricate inventions. If there was a tool out there, Lewis had it and/or made what he needed to! His tool collection is legendary. Hunting and the outdoors were lifelong passions he enjoyed with family and friends alike—he would always entertain a good deer story with anyone.
He took pleasures in the little things: from gardening, planting trees, tinkering around his house, and mowing the lawn on his favorite tractor, he just enjoyed each moment. The trees were extra important to him; he planted a variety of species on his property and would enjoy telling stories about each tree and something special he crafted out of that type of wood. Essentially, he had his own forest preserve of which he was quite proud.
A human atlas, Lewis knew every road in New Jersey, and preferred to avoid highways; this was most likely due to his passion for nature and the outdoors and anyone who know New Jersey, understands its raw beauty like Lewis did. He was also fiercely proud of his Dutch heritage and his roots in this area. His great-great grandfather served as a General under Gen. George Washington during the Revolutionary War, and his father was born at home in the hills of Bedminster, NJ. All these things contributed to him having a passion for history which added to his ability as a wonderful story-teller.
Simply put, he was a kind man and humbly inspired others to keep their hope when going through any sort of illness or tough time. Above all, he enjoyed the simple pleasures of life surrounded by family and friends and all those who knew him, are better off for having him as a part of their lives.
Surviving are his loving wife and partner of 57 years, Eleanor P. (Dye) Duyckinck; his children and their spouses whom Lewis adored, Richard L. and Christine (Jagerburger) Duyckinck and Deborah M. Bagnuolo and Carmine Bagnuolo Jr.; his adored grandchildren, Eric and Amelia Duyckinck and Emily and Brielle Bagnuolo; his sister, Betty Hixson; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Gregg and Eveyln Dye; his nephew, Jeffrey Hixson and his wife, Christine), Karen Hixson, and Jennifer Dye; several cousins, extended family, and many dear friends.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother-in-law, James Hixson and a nephew, Jim Hixson.
Lewis will lie in repose where family and friends will gather to reflect and celebrate his life on Sunday, February 9, 2025, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.
There will be an additional period of visitation on Monday, February 10, 2025, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at the funeral home.
A life celebration service to which all are welcome will take place on Monday, February 10, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. at the funeral home.
Interment in the family plot at Blawenburg Cemetery, 1006 Route 601, Skillman, NJ 08558, will follow the service and again, all are welcome.
You are encouraged to visit Lewis’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of his life.
For those who wish to honor his life with a contribution to the organizations he supported, donations in his honor and memory may be made to Tabby’s Place, via mail to 1100 US-202, Ringoes, NJ 08551, or online by clicking HERE, or to the Amwell Valley Ambulance Corps, via mail to P.O. Box 147, Ringoes, NJ 08551, or online by clicking HERE.
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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”
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