Ada Lou Duacsek

Ada Lou Duacsek, 96, passed away November 21, 2021. She was born in 1925 to George and (Lucy) Allen Reed in Clearlake Highlands, CA, where she attended Burns Valley School and Lower Lake High School. Lou learned to fly a plane before she could drive. She was the first female student to graduate in Aeronautical Engineering from San Jose State University where she pledged Alpha Chi Omega Sorority. Her studies were delayed by World War II when all the men in her department left for the military. During the day she ran an aircraft gyroscope calibration unit as a Rosie the Riveter. In the evenings she was a Stage Door Canteen hostess in San Francisco. After college she applied for a direct commission in the Navy, the only place that would provide women equal pay, and was in the 3rd regular commission WAVE class. At her first duty station in Glenview, Ill, she was tasked to recall reserve air squadrons when the Korean War broke out in 1950. She was next assigned to the Naval Bureau of Personnel in Washington, D.C. where she marched in parades down Pennsylvania Ave. She attended the Naval Postgraduate School, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerology (Meteorology) as well as a husband, Lt. Anthony Duacsek, USN. She first reported to NAS Moffett Field, then NAS North Island. She was discharged in 1957 since married women with children were not allowed to remain line officers then. Her next 18 years were spent moving between the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts with an abbreviated stay in South Vietnam as her husband was transferred between shipyards. In Charleston, she helped develop hurricane evacuation plans for the southeastern U.S. She volunteered during Operation Babylift in Long Beach in April 1975. She also volunteered over 5000 hours for the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society. Lou and Tony retired in Long Beach in 1975. Lou had a great sense of adventure and loved meeting and entertaining people. She traveled to 51 countries with different members of her family. She helped coordinate the Long Beach Police Dept. Emergency Translators, was an active long time member of the El Dorado Woman’s Club, a polls worker and precinct inspector for over 20 years, and helped organize the Long Beach International Festival. She was loved by all who knew her. She was predeceased by her husband, Anthony (Tony) and survived by her daughters, Diane Duacsek, Loraine Moreno, and Monica (Mark) Buehnerkemper; five grandchildren Christopher (Annie) Buehnerkemper, Veronica (Jonathan) Brock, Julianna Buehnerkemper, Raquel and Anthony Moreno; and four great grandchildren, Anastasia, Thomas, Cecilia, and Joseph Buehnerkemper. Luyben Dilday Mortuary (562) 425-6401