Lake Oswego police chief dies the day before retirement party | Community Spirit

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. – Dan Duncan, the Lake Oswego police chief and a 25-year veteran of the force, was found dead in his home Thursday morning, victim of an apparent heart attack. He was 55.

A retirement party at Lake Oswego’s City Hall had been planned for Friday for Chief Duncan, who was scheduled to retire June 1 after serving as chief for seven years.

Duncan started as a corrections deputy in the Tillamook County Sheriff's Office in 1976 and worked his way up the chain of command to Senior Deputy.

He began his career with the Lake Oswego Police Department in 1985.

He was active in fundraising for the Lake Oswego School District and also set up a K-9 unit for the department. He was most proud of recently organizing the Lake Oswego Police Department's new honor guard.

"(He) talked about how proud he was of the honor guard, of our police department, and was happy as well, and the first member of our police department that we'll be using Dan's honor guard for will be Chief Dan Duncan," said Interim Police Chief Don Forman.

In his seven years as chief Duncan became known for running the department with honesty and integrity.

“He had a commitment to excellence and exemplified trust, protection and service to the public,” said Lake Oswego Mayor Jack Hoffman. “There’s a motto in the Lake Oswego Police Department, it is ‘to protect and serve’. He emphasized that and required it of all of his police officers.”

Duncan had just gone through checkups but didn’t mention to anyone that he had any health concerns.

Police agencies from Portland, West Linn, Tualatin, Oregon City and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office have sent in officers and staff to take over duties for what is a very small department to give Lake Oswego staff time off to cope with the sudden loss.

They still plan to hold a gathering tomorrow afternoon – what was supposed to be a retirement gathering – to honor Duncan’s passing.

Funeral arrangements are pending.