Duane Robert Gusse, age 69, passed
away
peacefully in his home in Olympia, on Feb. 1, 2013. He was born to
Byron
and Florence Gusse on Jan. 1, 1944, in Tacoma. He attended school in
Waitsburg,
where he discovered his talent and love for music and sports. While
still
in high school, he began his musical career playing keyboards and
singing
in popular local bands. He attended various colleges over the years
including
Central Washington University and Portland State University.
While in Portland, he met and married
Delores
Paulsen. Together they had three children, Yvonne Gusse Walker, Jeffrey
Gusse and Steven Gusse. They also adopted Kimberly Gusse. Duane’s day
job
was for Dun and Bradstreet, but he lived for the music — playing with
The
Gems, Le Sabres and countless piano bars in the Portland Metro area.
The
family moved to Dayton in 1975 and he worked quality control for Green
Giant.
He continued playing music — both
with
local groups and in piano bars. When he left Green Giant, he began a
long
career as an appraiser. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s he worked for
Columbia
County — first as a field appraiser, then as the county assessor.
During
this time, he and Delores divorced; and he met and married Margaret
MacKinnon,
who was his soul mate and best friend for the next 31 years. They moved
to Western Washington, eventually settling in Olympia. He continued his
appraisal
career culminating in opening up Gusse-Wilson Appraisal Services, Inc.
with partners Scott and Jean-Marie Wilson.
In 2003 he began reconnecting with
the
members of several bands from the ‘60s and this led to a resurgence of
his musical career. He played with the Dukes of Juke for several years
before reuniting with The Gems. He retired in 2010 and was able to
devote
more time to music and entertaining the crowds. Some of his other joys
included watching his son’s wrestling events, perfecting his backyard
grilling
skills, playing with his basset hounds and exploring grocery stores.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret;
his
children; 10 grandchildren; and his dogs, Ranger and Maddie.
A celebration of his life is being
planned
for June in the Walla Walla area
http://union-bulletin.com/obituaries/2013/feb/22/duane-gusse/
The Versatiles began in 1959
as
the Eclipses to play for high school dances. Jeff played guitar,
but only knew three chords in the key of E and Duane preferred to play
piano in the key of G. When Chuck and Gary came to town, we added
them and changed the name.
We made some demo tapes in Duane's
living
room on an old mono-track Wollensak reel-to-reel recorder. We had
no idea what to do with them, however.
We played in grange halls, legion
halls,
school gyms, and even made it to the big time at the Natatorium in
Walla
Walla.
Bill Donley, February 2013
