Friday morning, Nov. 23, 2012, Jean (Weddle) Duke, 84, of Trafalgar, left this life to go home to the Lord. She passed away peacefully at her home in the company of her husband and their daughters.

She was born in Johnson County on May 30, 1928. Jean was the 11th child of 17 siblings born to the late Robert R. and Amy C. (Boles) Weddle. Jean was a 1948 graduate of Trafalgar High School and went on to marry her sweetheart of 64 years, Arnold F. Duke on June 20, 1948 at Beech Grove Baptist Church in rural Trafalgar.

She retired in 1989, after 25 years of service alongside her husband, as owner and operator of the Cinderella Flower Shop in Franklin. Jean was chosen by Teleflora Inc. as its 1975 designer of the year and was recognized at the Teleflora convention. Prior to that, she worked at Varnyt-Mills garment factory in Franklin. Jean was a faithful, sixty year member of Morgantown Baptist Church, where she was active in vacation Bible school as a youth leader and a craft worker. Prior to Morgantown Baptist, she was a member of Beech Grove Baptist Church, where she was a Sunday school teacher. 

Jean’s true passion was in doing God’s work by helping those in need. She was one of the original founders of the Caring Hearts Clothes Closet in Morgantown, where she volunteered for more than 22 years. Jean and her husband were among founders who started Gateway Services in Franklin during the 1960s and among those who formed the Johnson County Association for Retarded Citizens. She enjoyed mushroom hunting in Michigan with her husband and siblings, tending to her vegetable and flower gardens and helping out on the family farm. Jean is now at peace and filled with joy for all eternity.

She will be greatly missed by her daughters, Peggy (Homer) Crase, Connie Jo (David) Wiley and Lisa Duke, all of Trafalgar; grandchildren, Amy and John Doyle, Becky and Joseph Crase, Angie and Aaron Wiley, Teresa Baxter, David and Willy Wilhelm; and 11 great-grandchildren. She will be remembered by her siblings, Orpha McClary of Morgantown, Marjorie (Delbert) Bishop of Oran, Mo., Kathleen (Jack) Bishop of Chaffee, Mo., Forrest (Dorothy) Weddle of Franklin and Robert (Ike) Weddle of Shelbyville. 

 Jean was preceded in death by her parents; five sisters, Christeen Castner, Hazel, Helen, Jane and Betty Ann Weddle; and six brothers, Dale, Jerry, Wilson, Carl, Merrill and Lester Weddle.

The Revs. Ben Swopes and Lee Snider will conduct a funeral service at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday Nov. 27 at Morgantown Baptist Church, 109 E. Elm Street. Visitation will be Monday at the church from 4 to 8 pm. Burial will be at East Hill Cemetery, Morgantown. Funeral Arrangements have been entrusted to Meredith-Clark Funeral Home Cremation & Personalization Center in Morgantown.

Memorial contributions can be sent in honor of Jean to Gateway Services, 3500 N. Morton Ave, Franklin, IN  46131. 

Expressions of caring and kindness can be made to the Weddle family at www.meredith-clark.com.