COL Duane Fender, the Commandant of Cadets at Fork Union Military Academy, died unexpectedly Tuesday evening, December 6, 2016, at the age of 56. Fender was refereeing an interscholastic basketball game at Orange County when he began to experience chest pains and, following the conclusion of the game, was transported by rescue squad. He apparently suffered a major cardiac event.
Visitation
On Saturday night, 6:00 PM TO 8:00 PM, we will host a visitation for the Fender family. This will take place in the Commandant Department area.
Service
On Sunday, Duane’s funeral service will be at 2:00 PM in the chapel.
This service will be broadcast via The Cube (http://thecube.com/e/695976), and there will additional areas on campus (social center, library) publicly showing the broadcast.
The family will have a private graveside service immediately afterwards.
Reception
There will be a reception in the Sports Hall of Fame area in Estes Athletic Center after the public service, which the family will attend after the graveside service.
About COL Duane Fender
Arthur Duane Fender, Jr. was born March 3, 1960 to Kathleen W. Fender of Summerville, South Carolina and the late Arthur Duane Fender. Following his graduation from Summerville High School in 1978, he attended Fork Union Military Academy for a postgraduate year, graduating in 1979. He played wide receiver on Fork Union's varsity football team under COL "Red" Pulliam, the varsity football coach and longtime Commandant. Duane went on to play college football at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.
At the 1979 Military Ball at Fork Union Military Academy, his blind date for the dance was Lynn Pulliam, one of COL Pulliam's two daughters. Duane and Lynn would be married in 1983 and would raise their own two daughters, Lauren and Lindsay.
Following his graduation from The Citadel, Fender returned to Fork Union Military Academy where he joined the staff as a TAC Officer in the Commandant's Department. For the next thirty-three years, Fender served the Academy in a variety of important roles. From 1983 to 1999, while part of the Commandant's Department, he served as a TAC Officer, varsity football assistant coach, Deputy Commandant, Assistant Director of Admissions, Manager of the Sabre Shop, Activities Director, and Transportation Officer. In 1999, Fender was moved to the Athletics Department to be in charge of all athletics facilities as Assistant Athletic Director for Building and Grounds. He returned to the Commandant's Department in 2010 as a TAC Officer of Bravo Company. He was soon promoted to Deputy Commandant and served in that role until this past summer of 2016 when he was named Commandant of Cadets.
When asked in a 2012 interview to describe himself in one sentence, Fender responded, "I consider myself a family man and I try to treat the FUMA cadets as if they were part of my own family." He described his favorite pastimes as "spending time with my family, boating, and running with my daughters Lauren and Lindsay." When asked in that interview what words of advice he would offer cadets at Fork Union Military Academy, his answer was as much a description of himself as it was a prescription for others to follow: "You get out of Fork Union Military Academy what you put into it; It is never right to do wrong, and it is never wrong to do right; Stand up and take responsibility for your actions; Never lie to or for anybody, and expect the same from others."
"We mourn the sudden loss of a good friend, great leader, and living example of God’s word," said the Academy's president, RADM J. Scott Burhoe. "Please join us as we pray for his family, the young men impacted by this loss, and those faculty, staff, and administrators who have worked with him for decades."
COL Fender's Obituary
COL Fender's obituary was published in Charlottesville's Daily Progress.