Obituary - Lowell Duane Yeager

Lowell Duane Yeager, 77, of Midway, was born on May 3, 1947, in Barbourville, KY, and passed away on Sunday morning, January 26, 2025, at Frankfort Regional Medical Center, in the company of loved ones.
Duane leaves behind the following immediate family: a daughter, Latisa (Steve) Spradlin of Frankfort; a son, Dorian Lance (Connie) Yeager of Oklahoma City, OK; eight grandchildren, Kelsey (Nick) Hess, Samantha (Jimmy) Craft, Katrina (Michael) Martin, Logan Spradlin, Zachary (Grace) Spradlin, Dorian Lee Yeager, Izaak Yeager, and Chandler Yeager; a brother, Dorian (Margaret Carol) Yeager of Richmond; a nephew, John (Frances) Yeager; and step-sister Betty (Gilbert) Sowers and her family.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Shurann Yeager, mother Bobbie Young Warren, father Lowell Eugene Yeager, and step-father James Monroe Young.
Duane lived life to the fullest. He lived on his own terms, and nothing kept him from his best life. He was a farm boy in his youth, a tale teller, a talented artist, a collector, a salesman, a soldier, a designer, a loving husband, father, caregiver and friend. He worked hard to be a provider and he enjoyed spending time with his family and many friends, always singing a song and always telling and laughing at jokes.
From his early years, Duane learned the value of hard work, honesty, consistency, diligence, patience, the importance of a good name, and the pleasure of taking pride in a job well done.
But Duane did not need to be taught about romance. It was natural to him. Duane never played the field, because he was searching for the right one. Girls were drawn to him like a magnet; girlfriend after girlfriend appeared in his life, always one at a time, but when he found Shurann he stopped searching. He bought himself a used Mercury Comet and applied it to the task of getting to and from Possum Kingdom, Kentucky, where that bright-eyed girl would always be waiting.
Duane and Shurann graduated from Madison Central in 1966 and were married on August the 6th of that same year. Duane worked in Richmond for a few years, selling furniture for Muncy's while Shurann worked for the Psychology Department on campus. But Duane was classified 1A for the draft, so in 1969 he was drafted and sent to Fort Knox for boot camp. He quickly stood out and was selected platoon leader, and when he graduated he was selected for the "outstanding recruit" honor.
On January 5th, 1969, Shurann gave birth to Latisa, their first child.
Duane was stationed in Fort Knox after boot camp, due to his art skills. He was classified as an Army Illustrator and assigned to the post newspaper. He remained in Fort Knox in that capacity for almost the entirety of his active duty service, except for a six-month assignment in Korea. While there, he was able to do some of his best art work, which he brought home with him.
Duane and Shurann moved to Lexington when Duane's military service was over, where Duane was again occupied selling furniture, this time at L. L. Roberts. But eventually his freehand drawing capabilities earned him an engineer's job at Clark Equipment Company, where he created drawings which were used to illustrate how parts could be assembled together into complete components of an assembly. After several years at Clark, Johnson Controls hired him to design assembly lines, so that he developed an invaluable feel for the practical aspects of assembling seats for the Toyota Camry.
As an artist, Duane worked with paper and ink, with oil and acrylic on canvas, and with sculptures. He constructed pieces of folk art, including assemblages and "grotesque jugs", which were reconstructions of pre-civil-war slave art. Whereas the slave art pieces historically were formed by shaping and firing clay, Duane used sculpted epoxy paste to convert old ceramic jugs into similar art pieces, each of which was one of a kind and sold for hundreds of dollars.
Duane has received several honors for his art, winning first place in several art shows and being honored by a public display of his jug art at the Headley-Whitney Museum on the Old Frankfort Pike.
In later life, Duane was very active on the antiques and collectibles scene, going often to "flea markets", finding stock for his own booths and ultimately for his antique store in Midway, Yeager's Antiques. His living quarters were filled with treasured trophies of these searches, items that Duane insisted were always for sale but that we knew he would hate to part with. His store in Midway was a major part of his life for over 15 years, and he built countless friendships in the Midway community.
Duane's life was not without tragedy. At the tender age of 22, his wife Shurann was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and given a very pessimistic prognosis. With Duane's help, she fought the disease and the prognosis, working for many years as a nurse at the Shriners Children's Hospital in Lexington and living actively until the age of 54. Duane had retired early to care for her full time and she passed away in December of 2002, only six months after his retirement. They were married for 36 years, and Duane was devastated by the loss.
But after several years God ultimately supplied another heart that was ready to bind itself to his. Debie Hayse has been a loving friend and companion for Duane and has been adopted into our family, having loved and cared for Duane emotionally and (ultimately) physically for several years. Our family has grown to love Debie as one of our own and Duane had become "Grandad" to Debie's children Wes (Kiley) Hayse and Beth (Brian) Gaddis and grandchildren Haley (Joey) Carly, Avery, Hayse, and Charlotte.
There will be a Celebration of Life service at Broadway Christian Church in Lexington, KY on Monday, February 17th, at 11:00 AM, with visitation beginning at 9:30 am.