Duane Eugene Landry, FAIA's Obituary
DUANE EUGENE LANDRY, FAIA died surrounded by his family, July 26, 2022, in his Dallas, Texas home. Born Hays, Kansas on June 14, 1933, Duane grew up in Austin, studied architecture at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1957.
In 1956, Duane married Jane Lorenz Landry, his loving wife, college classmate, fellow architect, and constant companion for 66 years.
In 1959, Duane began his career in San Antonio, Texas, at the firm of O’Neil Ford & Associates. In 1964, while continuing their association with O’Neil Ford and its successor entity, Ford, Powell & Carson, Architects and Planners, Duane and Jane started their own architectural firm later known as Landry & Landry.
They specialized in religious, academic and residential design, including numerous award-winning buildings, particularly at the University of Dallas. In 2015, the latter’s Church of the Incarnation became the first and only Dallas-area Catholic sanctuary to be named a 25-year awardee by the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Duane was a loving father to his four daughters and was active in serving others. Among other things, he served as President of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) program at St. Rita Catholic Church and later as President of the school board of Ursuline Academy of Dallas.
He particularly enjoyed designing and renovating religious spaces, including the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas, the Mausoleum at Emanu-El Cemetery in Dallas, St. Catherine of Siena in Austin, Holy Spirit Friary at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Holy Trinity Seminary Chapel, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson, Our Lady of the Lake in Rockwall, St. Bernard of Clairvaux in Dallas, St. Peter the Apostle in White Settlement and the Chapel of St. Angela Merici of Ursuline Academy in Dallas.
In 1988, Duane and Jane took joy in being the first husband and wife in the nation to be jointly nominated and named Fellows of the AIA. In 2020, the Dallas AIA honored both with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Duane loved sailing and, in his later life, spent many happy summers sailing the waters of the Pacific Northwest with Jane, his “First Mate,” in their sailboat, Whisper.
He is survived by his wife, Jane, his sister, Annette Landry Burns, his four daughters and their husbands, Rachel and Charles Helms, Claire and Peter Wickersham, Ellyn and Gonzalo Amador, and Jean Landry and Richard Bullock, thirteen grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.
Duane’s rosary and wake will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, July 28, 2022, at Restland Funeral Home, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, Texas, 75243. His Mass of the Resurrection will be at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, July 29, 2022, at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas, 1845 E. Northgate Drive, Irving, Texas, 75062.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the “Ursuline Sisters Retirement Fund” at 353 South Sappington Road, St. Louis, Missouri, 63122.
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