Duane Unruh

Duane Unruh
April 18, 1930 – December 14, 2022

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of one of Hallmark’s beloved Keepsake Ornament Artists, Duane Unruh. Please click on the attached links to see his full obituary or sign his guestbook.

I began collecting Hallmark shortly out of high school. I was splitting my time between college and working at my old high school for my former journalism teacher, Mr. Kenner, who was now a friend.

He was not in good health, so I would often drive him wherever he needed to go. It was one of those times when I told him about an upcoming Hallmark EXPO where I was going to meet three of the artists. As I rattled off the artist’s names, he stopped me and said he also had a friend named Duane Unruh, who was a coach at a school he worked at earlier in his career.

I thought little of it—surely that coach did not end up sculpting ornaments.

Duane Signing Majestic Deer at ’94 EXPO

A few days after EXPO I showed him my photos. Flipping through the stack, he lifted his glasses, and pulled the photo of Duane signing my KOCC “Majestic Deer” ornament real close to his eye and said, “That is Duane! He’s really an artist now? For Hallmark?”

With further confirmation, my hope was that Duane would be touring nearby again and I could take my teacher to his first Hallmark event and reacquaint the old friends. Sadly, that never happened before my teacher passed.

However, I did get to meet Duane again in 1998 at the big Kansas City Convention. Along with my ornament to be signed, I had tucked away a photo of Mr. Kenner.

As Duane began signing my ornament I slid the photo across the table. After a few seconds, his eyes lit up with the biggest smile and said, “That’s the Old Man Sparky, I haven’t seen him in years, how’s he doing?”

I sadly explained the situation to him and we shared a few quick stories. It was great to know Duane hadn’t forgotten his roots and remembered him fondly. (I also realized it was Duane who had long ago given my journalism teacher his nickname, not us students.)

It was learning of Duane’s background that made me love the Keepsake Studios even more, knowing that back then they would consider ability over degree, and uncover a truly master artist in the process.

A master artist is truly what Duane was—a traditional artist using clay, wax and wood to create pieces that told stories often through nothing more than just a facial expression or a gesture of a hand frozen in time.

Talking about his style, Duane said, “As a figure sculptor, I like to visualize an episode as a drama unfolding. I run the scene through my mind’s eye like a video, embellishing and changing details as I rerun it over and over. When I am satisfied with my ‘mental movie,’ I stop the drama at the most exciting point in the story; that frozen frame becomes my design.”

He continued, “I like to say I sculpt relationships. A human figure or an animal is almost always relating to another human or animal, or maybe a sound in its environment. A sculpture is stationery and mute, of course, so it can only convey a story through its visual elements. The facial expression, the attitude of the head, the body language, and the hand gestures all work together to communicate the emotion of the moment.”

Duane’s work could not only be found on the Keepsake Ornament Wall, but also in Merry Miniatures and countless figurines released for Hallmark Galleries and other collections. Several of the internal retail performance awards that Hallmark presented to its stores were also sculpted by Duane.

Wreath of Memories
Keepsake of Membership

A very notable moment in his career was in 1987, when his “Wreath of Memories” was chosen to be the ornament that launched the Keepsake Ornament Collector’s Club.

Then in celebration of Hallmark Keepsake Ornament’s 25th anniversary in 1998, Hallmark turned to Duane once again to sculpt two of the attendee gifts and the sleigh in the Studio Edition.

Among the many subjects Duane was known for sculpting were: Coca-Cola, Marjolein Bastin, The Wizard of Oz, March of the Teddy Bears, A Christmas Carol, many nativities and the Old World Silver Collection. In the sports section, he sculpted legends like Kobe Bryant, Wayne Gretzky, and Arnold Palmer. However, many may remember him best for the numerous endearing Santa Clauses he sculpted throughout his career.

Little Drummer Boy
Duane Unruh Design

With 40 years of sculpting experience, Duane retired and he and his family started Duane Unruh Design in 2003 which produced ornaments and figurines in both pewter and bronze. His collection focused on Biblical figures and events. The initial offering was a 12-piece Christmas Nativity set.

Regarding his new collection, Duane said, “In addition to the Santa Clauses and sports figures and cute little animals, I crafted a number of Christian ornaments for Hallmark. I realized long ago my desire to use my artistic gift to glorify the Creator who endowed me with it. My work at Hallmark prepared me with the technical expertise I now use to execute the themes I’m most interested in communicating.”

Duane clearly had also a spirit of giving back and he built that into his new venture. A part of each sale went to charity, and not just a specific charity, but any one that the customer chose.

The Hope Memorial
Joplin, Missouri

Duane later joined forces with seven other Kansas City-based artists to create a memorial for the devastating 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado using wood from the destroyed Salvation Army Thrift Store. Duane’s contribution to the piece is the image of God’s hands which he carved in the workshop of his retirement home over a period of two months (approximately one hundred hours).

The Set Apart organization in Kansas City created a YouTube documentary on the memorial’s creation process and dedication, which includes Duane and his contribution.

“The Hope Memorial” is on display at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Joplin.  It can be found on the East exterior wall of the building at 302 E. 7th Street.  A dedication ceremony is planned on the anniversary of the tornado in May 2023.

Let the Children Come
Overland Park, Kansas

Also, during his retirement Duane sculpted “Let the Children Come” depicting Jesus surrounded by little children. You can see these life-sized sculptures for yourself if you attend services at either campuses of the Colonial Presbyterian Churches in Overland Park, Kansas or South Kansas City, Missouri (a simple 20 minute drive from Crown Center). Duane was a member of Colonial Presbyterian for over 60 years.

Duane passed on December 14, 2022 and is survived by many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In what could be said to be a nod to his former career in coaching and his faith, the family requested remembrances be made in the form of contributions to the Greater Kansas City FCA, 8701 Leeds Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64129.

– Tim Allen

References:

• DuaneUnruhDesign.com (archive.org)
• Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Club Collector’s Courier, Volume 15, Number 2, 2001
• Scroggins, C. J. (1993). Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments (A Collector’s Guide: 1973 – 1993 – The First Twenty Years) (6th ed.). hallmark.
• Regehr, McKenna, “Let the Children Come”, 2023, Colonial Presbyterian Churches
• Set Apart KC
  

• The Hope Memorial–a documentary (YouTube.com)
• The Clay Center Dispatch
• The Joplin Globe
• The Salvation Army Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area
• The Salvation Army Jasper Newton County