Everett "Duce" Ray Upchurch

Everett “Duce” Ray Upchurch, 99, of New Castle passed away on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at The Willows of New Castle. He was born on October 1, 1924 in Albany, KY, one of nine children, born to the late Ted and Eulas Upchurch.

Humble, honest, provider, caregiver, intelligent, storyteller, home builder, farmer and a strong desire to make others happy are just a few descriptions of Duce’s character and the life he lived. Duce was a humble man that worked hard all his life to make an honest dollar without taking advantage of others.

Although his main occupation in life was farming, Duce would build “true custom homes” for people looking to build. He didn’t operate a large contracting business, just a man looking to help out others. A majority of the homes Duce built are located in the Denney Addition and the Gay Sands Subdivision. He sold farm ground to The Westwood Country Club, turning the course from nine holes into a full eighteen-hole golf course.

The most important thing to Duce was family. He loved his family and as mentioned above, he was a provider and caregiver. He married the love of his life, Elsie Upchurch, on January 1, 1949. They were a team for 74 years. He was always making sure his family had what they needed and it was common place for Duce to hand them some money and say, “just put that in your pocket”. He not only took care of them financially but did so by building memories that will last a lifetime. For example, his love for Disney World bled over to his family and to this day, they love Disney as much as he did; he loved all of it, even the rides, riding Space Mountain at the age of 65. Duce and Elsie spent their winters in Florida for many years and the first thing he would do upon arrival was take his shirt off, sit in his lawn chair and have Tiffani take a picture of him soaking up the sun then send it to other family members, just to “rub it in”. Duce loved to garden and he planted a garden 10 times larger than was needed just so he could provide fresh vegetables to his family, friends and neighbors; remember his desire to make others happy.

Now, Duce was known to be a story teller. He loved to tell stories about his youth growing up in Kentucky among many others and as he told stories, your attention was captivated. The family is sure his stories were based on facts but he might have added a bit of flavor to those facts. Duce was a very intelligent man that understood how the world turned therefore, he was able to provide his family with great wisdom and advice. He lived a happy life often singing songs and making up his own words as he sang. He loved playing Rook and with his crooked little smile and a slight wink of the eye, you knew, he was up to something. He enjoyed his 1979 red Chevy Camero. He entered it in the Memorial Day and Mooreland parades annually; he even showed the boys how cruising on Broad was done. Duce loved mowing his 6 acres with his U-turn mower, often mowing 2-3 times per week.

Duce proudly served our country in the US Navy and served during WWII. Again, he was a humble man who received 6 bronze stars during his service; something he never discussed or clouted. At times, Duce had been referred to as a “hero”, he never considered himself as such but just someone that wanted to make others happy and freedom makes people happy.

Duce is survived by his wife, Elsie Upchurch of New Castle; daughter, Diana Pyle of New Castle; grandchildren, Tiffani (Scott) Simerly of New Castle, Keith (Whitney) Pyle of Marion, Joe (Danielle) Pyle of Belmont, NC, Wesley (Rosanna) Young of New Castle; great grandchildren, Sady, Madison, Ella, Alexis, Dom, Ryan and Weston; great-great grandson, Jaxson; several nieces, nephews and lots of friends.

In addition to his parents, Duce was preceded in death by a daughter, Sandy Young; sisters, Ethel Arthur, Edna Anderson, Wanda Marcum and Grace Baker; brothers, Arthur, Roy, Jimmy, and Gordon Upchurch.

Visitation will be from 4:00 pm-8:00 pm Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at Hinsey-Brown Funeral Service in New Castle. Services will be held at 12:00pm Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at the funeral home with Pastor Paul Davis officiating. Burial will follow in South Mound Cemetery with military honors conducted by the American Legion/VFW and the US Navy. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital at www.stjude.org . Envelopes will also be available at the funeral home. You may express condolences or share memories of Duce at www.hinsey-brown.com .