Howard F. "Duke" Etherington

There are times when we make history and there are times when history makes us. The Etherington family name has been a fabric of the Gloucester City neighborhood for generations. Howard F. “Duke” Etherington, Jr. was friendly and social. What you put out in the world comes back to you. Duke’s early years were his best. He participated in youth sports coaching the neighborhood kids, was a part of the Etherington Funeral Home family business and for a time, oversaw the Evergreen Cemetery in Camden. The memories that hang heaviest are the easiest to recall, for Duke it was oh those Wildwood Days. Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean. During the very early hours of February 2, 2021 just as the ocean slips away from the Wildwood beach, Duke’s tide slipped away from the sand after 85 trips around the bright summer sun.

Duke was a lifetime Gloucester City neighbor, well known around the “Holy City”. Outside the family business, he spent time working in the shipyards and enjoyed summers in N. Wildwood. He was an eager WWII history enthusiast, particularly the airplanes and had emphatically enjoyed DC-3 flight simulation from his home computer.

Duke’s yesterday's are all boxed up and neatly put away. He is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Donna (nee Ashenfelter) Etherington and is the father of Lynne and her husband Tim Harper, Gary and his wife Jennifer Etherington and Karen Etherington. Duke was predeceased by his parents, the late, Howard, Sr. and Dorothy (nee White) Etherington as well as his brother, the late, Glenn Etherington.

Relatives, friends and a lifetime of Gloucester City neighbors are invited to join the Etherington family, on Saturday afternoon at the old family business between 12:00 & 1:00 pm where a memorial ceremony will begin at 1:00 pm at Creran Celebration Etherington & Creran Funeral Homes 700 Powell St. Gloucester City. A graveside tribute will immediately follow at Harleigh Cemetery, Camden.

#crerancelebration #heartfelt