Duane was born and raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, where by age 5 he was driving John Deere Models A and B pulling bundle wagons during threshing. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1972 with a PhD in Nuclear Physics. He then moved to Knoxville, TN, where he was employed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a research physicist; he retired in October 2001 from the Physics Division as Operations Manager and Director of a particle accelerator facility.
In 1968 Duane married Nancy, who is now also retired from a career as a research physicist. Duane and Nancy have one daughter, Linnea, who is a structural engineer with Deltec Homes in Asheville, NC. Linnea is married to Steve, who is a green building engineer, also with Deltec. Linnea & Steve have two young sons, both of whom are interested in anything mechanical, especially if it is green and yellow.
Duane bought his first antique tractor (1931 GP John Deere) in 1970, and his second (1936 B JD) in 1971 while a graduate student. Presently he owns fifteen John Deere tractors (mostly unstyled) and five tractors of other brands. Duane is an avid collector of literature, including sales, parts manuals, and service manuals, with emphasis on Field Service Bulletins. He also collects memorabilia, signs, tools used for repairing John Deere tractors, and some toys. Duane's spark plug collecting started with his attempt to assemble a collection of plugs which came as original equipment on JD tractors; his present collection contains about 400 plugs. He is a member of the Spark Plug Collectors of America.
Duane began rebuilding magnetos and carburetors for antique tractors and engines in 1984 under the business name LARTEK. He collects tools, equipment, literature, and signs related to magneto and carburetor repair.
Duane died Wednesday, July 8, 2009, following a two-year battle with cancer.