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Obituaries

Former Wyandotte Teacher Duane Irmen Dies at 76

A longtime art teacher in Wyandotte schools, Irmen's passion was mentoring high school students.

Duane E. Irmen of Traverse City, a former longtime Wyandotte resident and art teacher in the Wyandotte school district, died Tuesday, July 12. He was 76. 

Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1934, Irmen graduated from Central Catholic High School in Toledo. After working briefly as a painter, he enlisted with the U.S. Coast Guard during the late stages of the Korean War, and served on the Great Lakes ice breaker “Mackinaw” for several years. 

Art was always in Irmen’s DNA. While growing up, he took Saturday art lessons at the Toledo Museum of Art and at Central Catholic High School. After being diagnosed with arthritis and honorably discharged as a disable veteran from the Coast Guard, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from the University of Toledo in 1962, and a Master of Arts in Fine Art from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1966.

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He spent 35 years with Wyandotte Public Schools, teaching fine arts and founding the vocational arts program at . Early in his career, he taught art at two former elementary schools–Taft and Labadie. But his real passion was teaching and mentoring to high school students. He retired in 1992.

After his retirement, Irmen spent his winters in Arcadia, Fla., and his summers near Interlochen National Center for the Arts, on Silver Lake in Traverse City. Always working on art projects, Irmen taught art to fellow residents in his winter community. His own artwork focused on North American water fowl in media such as watercolors and woodcuts.

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Two of his paintings were selected for the American Embassy Art program, a collection of art circulated among U.S. embassies worldwide to display American talent in the arts. His works have hung in several U.S. embassies, including Copenhagen, Denmark, Budapest, Hungary and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has exhibited at the Michigan Watercolor Society Exhibit, the Michigan Education Association Purchase Award Exhibit, and the Graduate Show at Wayne State University. One of his works hangs in the governor's mansion in Lansing.

While living in Wyandotte, Irmen was an active member of St. Patrick’s parish, where we served as a lector/reader and usher. He also would often help decorate the church for Easter and Christmas. 

Irman is survived by his wife of 52 years, Lucie; his children, Gregory (Ellen) Irmen of Commerce, Mich., Michelle (Flemming) Christensen of Acton, Mass., and Noelle (Scott) Morell of White Lake, Mich.; his grandchildren, Edward, Clement, Charles, Shane, Andreas, Stefan, Christian, Brendan and Sebastien. He is also survived by two sisters, Rose Mosher and Sharon Schlaman, as well as many nieces, nephews and friends.

Visitation is scheduled for 2 to 8 p.m. Friday at the , 3544 Biddle Ave.. A funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at , 135 Superior. 

Memorials may be made to the Arthritis Foundation, P.O. Box 96280, Washington, DC, 20077, or to the Wyandotte Public Schools Scholarship Foundation, P.O. Box 412, Wyandotte, MI, 48192.

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