Duane Southwick

Duane Lee Southwick (1934-2015), aka ‘Duane in the Plane’, left us November 14th, 2015. Duane was known by so many for his reporting for KSL News TV and Radio. The Utah State Highway Patrol also recognized him for his assistance to them while he was in the air.

Duane was born in Roy, Utah to Lee and Eunice Southwick on November 16, 2015. He attended Ukiah High and enjoyed journalism and debate. He excelled in scholastics, basketball, swimming, and diving.  Duane also broadcast his own school radio show, running for 30 minutes twice a week. While in California, he graduated from radio broadcasting school.  He was employed most of his career in radio and T.V. working for KID radio in Idaho Falls, KCPX and finally KSL in Salt Lake City where he served as a broadcasting director and producer.  Later, as a news reporter. He served as owner and operator of his own personal business owning and piloting a single engine, fixed-wing airplane. He spent 23 years broadcasting rush hour traffic reports and became known throughout Utah as the “Eye in the Sky”. Duane had a love and passion for flying and shared it by generously helping others advance in their careers, many of which now fly professionally. Duane earned a number of advanced FAA certificates and ratings throughout his flying career.

He spent many hours with his son Bret, pseudo-sons Jason and Joe, and many others training them on how to properly pilot the skies. He also loved to take his family on ‘road trips’ to Southern Utah in his Cessna Cardinal. Other passions for Duane were golf, reading, keeping up on current events, politics and sharing stories of interviewing past presidents and other celebrities.  His stories will be missed by many, and forgotten by few. In 2012, Duane relocated from his home in Bountiful to his paradise that is St. George, Utah. Not shoveling snow was always a dream of his!

Duane is preceded in death by his parents Lee and Eunice, four siblings and son Kent. He is survived by his brother Clair (Mary Ann), children Julie Erbland (Jim), Cynthia Bowman (Randy), Bret Southwick (Dawn) and Kellie Cooke (Ryan) along with many grandchildren and great grandchildren. A celebration of life will be held on December 12th at 1:30 pm at the Rose Canyon Stake Center in Herriman,UT, 7079 W. Rose Canyon Rd. All those who knew and appreciated Duane are welcome to attend and perhaps share a memory. Family members and close friends are encouraged to gather at 1:00pm. A luncheon will follow the service. In lieu of flowers please make donations to either the Utah chapter of the American Heart Association or Lindon Care and Training Center, Lindon UT. (See on Facebook)