I would like to adjourn tonight’s meeting in memory of Duane Lee Dye, a great man and pillar of the Santa Clarita community, who passed away in September at the age of 85.
Duane was a Cornhusker at heart, having been born in Stanton, Nebraska in 1932, to parents Mildred and Ralph.
He and his sister, Carol, were raised on the family farm, which still remains in the Dye family to this day.
When Duane was 17 years old, polio was sweeping through the Midwest and he unfortunately contracted it.
However, this diagnosis was what fueled Duane’s determination to be a champion for those similarly affected throughout the world, which became his passion and mission later in life.
He left Nebraska for California in 1957 and took a job at Wayside Honor Farm in Castaic.
While working at the Honor Farm, where he was a supervisor in the Accounting department, Duane was laying the foundation for his own business, Duane Dye Insurance, which he opened in Newhall in the 1960s.
It is quite an accomplishment that Duane Dye Insurance is still helping Santa Clarita residents to this day.
In 1965, Duane married the love of his life, Linda. Together, the Dye family’s faith and desire to help people led them to become active in the Newhall Rotary Club.
Through Rotary International and the Rotary Polio Plus program, Duane was able to raise awareness of the issue globally and take steps to eradicate polio.
It is estimated that Duane and Linda were responsible for inoculating approximately 88,000 individuals throughout the world with the polio vaccine, due to their contributions and fundraising efforts.
We are all saddened by Duane’s passing.
Our thoughts are with his wife Linda, their children, family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time.
The City Council would like to present a certificate to the Dye family in memory of Duane Dye, and I will ask the City Clerk to please coordinate that.