Tracy Berniece (Hurd) Duncan (1933 - 2005)

Born 11 Jun 1933 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Ray Junior Duncan — married 13 May 1968 (to 6 Sep 1983) in Santa Clara, California, United States

Descendants

Died 10 Apr 2005 at age 71 in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Doug Duncan [send private message]

Tracy Berniece Hurd, born Berniece Hurd, came into the world on June 11,1933 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She would be the second child to her parents Bishop O. Hurd and Annie Berneice Harrison. Her brother Kenneth Hurd, was still born prior to her arrival. There was some confusion about her date of birth because she once lied about her birthdate when attempting to join the U.S. Air Force. However, her birth certificate gives her correct date of birth.

According to reports made by her sisters Dorothy Irene Hurd and Wynith (Louise) Hurd, she was an outspoken and strong spirited child who often challenged her parent's authority.

Much to her dismay, her parents often chose to live away from larger populations and the comforts that cities allowed.

Her dad preferred to work in lumbermills and hunt for or raise their food as opposed to buying their food at a market. Living on small farms or ranches and being poor left very little room for toys like dolls. She and her sisters would often choose to dress up the baby pigs in dresses and bonnets and give them names despite being warned by their mother not to get attached to the pigs.

In order to teach the girls a lesson, one night at dinner, Bishop O. Hurd was giving the meal high praise. He said it was the best thing he ever ate and his daughter's agreed with him. He then turned to Tracy and said "I'm going to miss Bessie. She was a fine pig." Tracy and her sister's rushed from the table out to where the baby pigs were supposed to be, only to be disappointed by their absence. Still, Tracy would dress up the pigs and give them names but warn them that they would later be made into ham steaks, hams or bacon and give them names like "Bessie Bacon Maker" and "Helena Ham Baker" and warn them of their impending doom at the hands of "Bishop the Butcher". Her spirit would not be crushed.

Being the oldest of four children, even though her brother Ray Noahl Hurd came along later in life, she also found herself being responsible for the care and supervision of her two sisters. On one such occasion, Louise fell into an outhouse and was believed to have drowned. Tracy and Dorothy managed to "fish" Louise out the outhouse and Tracy without any training, breathed into her sister's lungs and pounded on her chest and Louise coughed up some water and excrement. Both Tracy and Dorothy would say that she had been "crappy" ever since but used a different expletitve.

Tracy grew tired of farm life and her parent's quarreling, even though she was often the source of their fights, and hatched a plan to escpate. She decided that the military would help her get away from her family and attempted to join the U.S. Airforce when she was just 16 years of age. She lied about her date of birth and told them she was born in 1931. It wasn't until she was almost done with her basic training in San Antonio, TX that her lie came to light and she was sent back home. She never attempted to join the armed forces again.

When she was 18, she left home again, ignoring her mom's words that if she left she could never return home. She settled somewhere near San Francisco, having only a highschool education and not any skills, she became a Go-Go dancer. While she was dancing at one of the establishments, she met a Mr. Alexander who told her she was too smart to be working for sucha a place and he encouraged her to leave.

She was persuaded to marry Mr. Alexander and her supported her and helped her enroll in a vocational school. Upon completion of her vocational training she became a Psychiatric Technician for Agnew State Hospital in Santa Clara, California. It seemed to Tracy that life would finally have some normalcy and balance.

This was not the case. She and Mr. Alexander were often met with discrimination as he was a man of mixed-ethnicity. He was half black and half white. As such Mr. Alexander was never really accepted by either half of his family. This coupled by the current society also taking issue with his multi-cultural identity, led Mr. Alexander to commit suicide.

Although her mom had previously told her she could not return home, Tracy was invited by her mom to join her in the San Joaquin Valley in Central California.

While she was living there and working as a bar tender, she met David Leeroy Perryman. They would later marry and have two sons Michael David Perryman and Kevin Carter Perryman. Their marriage was short lived and before Kevin would turn 3 years old, she and David divorced. Tracy always contended that David lied to the courts and was eventually awarded custody.

She began to work as a Certified Nurses Aid in addition to her bar tending. While she was doing this work she met a widower, Ray Junior Duncan and the two were married. From this union, Tracy had a ready made family with Richard Wayne Duncan, Larry Stephen Duncan, Ronald Eugene Duncan and Letty Aline Duncan. She and Ray lived on the ranch with his children from his deceased wife Lita Mae Kuhn.

In 1971, she gave birth to Douglas Ray Duncan. She and Ray began to quarrel about his drinking, his handling of finances and his parenting style. She would leave the Northern California area of Yolo County and move back to Central California, residing temporarily with her sister Dorothy.

While living in the Tulare and Kings County and Fresno County areas she became a Licensed Vocational Nurse and continued to bar tend. She struggled as a single mother and was eventually advised by a social worker to quit her job so she could have cash aid, food stamps and medical for Douglas. She listened to this advice.

Not content with handouts and wanting a better life for her son, Tracy returned to school in 1981. She enrolled at the College of Seqouias in Visalia, CA. First she obtained a Paralegal degree but when she discovered that paralegals were underpaid in her area and jobs were in short supply she re-enrolled and became a Registered Nurse by the time Douglas entered his Sophomore year of Highschool.

She became the head nurse of the med-surge unit of Tulare District Hospital in Tulare, California. She held this position for many years until joining Douglas in Arizona in the late 1990's. She continued to work as a nurse in Cottonwood, Az.

She and Douglas would later return to Visalia, CA. Here she would work in Skilled Nursing Facillities until her retirement. Shortly after her retirement, she came to live with her son Douglas who had since moved to San Antonio, TX.

While living in San Antonio, she helped with the care and supervision of her grandson Trace, named in her honor. In 2005, after a fight with pneumonia and continued battle with angina and heart problems,, lived out her final day on April 10, 2005.

Sources

• 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: El Rito, Rio Arriba, New Mexico; Roll: m-t0627-02449; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 20-13; United States of America, Bureau of the Census. iSixteenth Census of the United States, 1940/i. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.

• 1950 United States Federal Census; United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Orosi, Tulare, Calif; Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. 1913-1/1/1972. iPopulation Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 - 1950/i. Washington, DC: National Archives at Washington, DC. piPopulation Schedules for the 1950 Census, 1950 - 1950/i. NAID: a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/43290879" target="_blank"43290879/a. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, Record Group 29. National Archives at Washington, DC., Washington, DC./p

• California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1949-1959; California Department of Health and Welfare. California Vital Records—Vitalsearch (a href="“http://www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com”"www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com/a). The Vitalsearch Company Worldwide, Inc., Pleasanton, California.

• California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1960-1985; State of California. ICalifornia Marriage Index, 1960-1985./I Microfiche. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California.;

• US City Directories, 1822-1955; U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 for Tracy B Perryman, California, Porterville 1961. Porterville, California, City Directory, 1961 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/32701_1020601537_1163-00592?pId=13986369334

• U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-current; Visalia Times-Delta; Publication Date: 10/ May/ 1952; Publication Place: Visalia, California, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/529863533/?article=614eb828-f761-4e06-8535-2139cf9d1390/f107d826-724a-4b01-be86-b672fc4b7f48&focus=0.259991,0.4649323,0

• U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014; Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File