Frank Duncan, Champion Wrestler And Owner Of Shoe-Distribution Firm

Frank Duncan, once called ``the greatest wrestler of his weight ever turned out in Seattle,'' died Saturday in a Bellevue nursing home. He was 98.

Duncan was one of four Duncan brothers (Mel, Dalton, Jim and Frank) who went into the leather and shoe-equipment business.

While several of his brothers ran Duncan & Sons, Inc., on Second Avenue - noted for the life-sized horse over the front door, Frank Duncan set up his own wholesale shoe-distribution company at 2112 First Ave. back in 1933.

Duncan continued to operate the business until he was well into his 70s.

All of the Duncans were athletic, but none more so than Frank. Although he weighed between 105 and 125 pounds, he became one of the most feared wrestlers on the West Coast.

To get matches, he often wrestled men much heavier than he was, usually pinning them with ease.

It was Portus Baxter, long-ago sports editor of The Post-Intelligencer, who wrote that Duncan was the best wrestler, pound for pound, the city had ever seen.

In 1909, at the age of 18, Duncan won a gold medal in the 105-pound wrestling class at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Three years later, he turned down an opportunity to represent the United States wrestling team in the Olympic Games.

He later explained that he did so, ``because I stammered so badly that perspiration ran down my back when somebody talked to me.''

Duncan wrestled the 125-pound and 135-pound gold medalists from the 1912 Olympics and pinned them. But Duncan always said there was one person he could never pin - his father, George, a large and powerful man.

As an amateur wrestler, Duncan earned 19 gold medals. Later, while living in Hawaii, he wrestled professionally, winning or losing depending on the promoter's orders.

One night, when he was supposed to lose, Duncan and some friends decided to rewrite the script. First, they placed bets on Duncan to win. Then, as soon as Duncan pinned the local hero, they threw the arena's main switch and fled under cover of darkness.

After returning from Hawaii, Duncan painted signs for Foster & Kleiser. During World War I, he served as an infantry sergeant in Europe. He was severely gassed and later told of waiting out a bombardment huddled in a shell hole with a dead German soldier.

Duncan lived for many years on the shores of Lake Sammamish with his wife, Gladys, who preceded him in death. He was an avid fisherman, duck hunter and golfer, and was a member of Inglewood Golf & Country Club.

Survivors include four nieces, Margaret Marshall and Jean Norman, both of Seattle; Harriet Seguin of West Yarmouth, Maine, and Gertrude Snipes of Sequim, Clallam County; three nephews, Dr. William Duncan of Sequim, and Jack and George Duncan, both of Seattle; a great nephew, Tom Duncan of Seattle, and two friends who cared for him during his last years, Roy and Noreen Jeffress of Issaquah.

At Duncan's request, there were no services. Cremation was arranged by Flintoft's Issaquah Funeral Home. The family suggests remembrances to the Salvation Army.