SIMON DUKE

Simon William Duke passed away unexpectedly September 5, 2018, at his home in Honthem, The Netherlands. A celebration of life service was held at Saint Jan’s Church in Maastricht on September 13, preceded by a private gravesite service at Eygelshof Cemetery.

Simon was born on August 31, 1959, in Reading, United Kingdom, the son of Cynthia and William Duke. He spent his childhood in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire where he attended Cheltenham College. Simon continued his education at the University of Aberystwyth in Wales and at Oxford University in England, where he earned the degrees Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations. Graduation was followed by post-doctoral study in Sweden and the United States and then a position as an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University.

While at Penn State Simon met Roberta Haar from Wagner. They married in Wagner in July 1996 and lived in the Czech Republic and Hungry before settling in The Netherlands in 2006 where Simon worked as a Professor at the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht. Two sons, William and Sidney were born to their union.

Simon was one of the leading scholars in the field of European security and defence policy. He was the author of twelve monographs and over a hundred other publications on European and transatlantic foreign and security issues. He taught regularly on European Public Affairs, contributed frequently to the activities of the Centre for European Research in Maastricht and since 2007, he was the co-Executive Editor of the Journal of European Integration.

Every summer Simon, Roberta and their sons, visited South Dakota where the family spent their summer days on Lake Francis Case. Simon was always welcomed with open arms by the entire Haar family as well as their many long-term friends from Roberta’s childhood.

Simon was preceded in death by his father and survived by his wife, sons, mother, four sisters (Leigh Haslam, who lives in New Zealand, Zoë Hewlett, Tina Oxenham and Sharon Willis, who reside in the United Kingdom), their spouses and families, and by his parents-in-law (Harris and Sharon Haar of Wagner), and brother-in-law (Milton Haar, who resides in Yankton).