Duane H. Berquist, Ph.D., 83, of Shrewsbury died peacefully on Tuesday January 22, 2019.

Duane was born in Minneapolis, MN and raised in St. Paul, MN son of the late Reno and Gertrude (Burke) Berquist. He was the youngest of three sons, all of whom became teachers in philosophy. Duane was educated at the College of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, MN, he received his Licentiate and Doctorate at Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada.

Duane, a noted Philosophy professor, taught for three years at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, CA. He then spent the next forty-four years as a tenured faculty member in the Philosophy Department of Assumption College in Worcester before he retired. He also lectured weekly for over twenty years for the monks at Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Petersham, MA. Duane was a founding member and former Vice President of the Society for the study of Aristotelian-Thomistic Studies (1974).

Duane was a long time member of Saint Mary’s Parish in Shrewsbury and had been a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic since the age of seventeen.

He leaves his loving wife of 50 years, Rosalie A. (Leone) Berquist; three children, Lt.Col Paul T. Berquist, USA, Ret and his wife Elizabeth of Williamsburg, VA, Maria S. Caughron and her husband Mathew of Kansas City, MO, and Marcus Berquist, of Alpharetta, GA; also survived by nineteen grandchildren, Martin, Anne, Mary Rose, Lucy, Grace, Thomas, Clare, Dominic, and Nicholas Berquist, Katherine, Sara, Cecilia, Miles, Isabella, Sophia, John, Paul, Julia and David Caughron; a brother, Richard H Berquist of St. Paul, MN. Besides his parents, Duane was predeceased by a brother, Marcus R. Berquist.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Duane’s family on Friday, February 1, 2019 form 4-7 PM at BRITTON-SHREWSBURY FUNERAL HOME, 648 Main St, Shrewsbury. His funeral will be from the funeral home on Saturday February 2, 2019 with a funeral Mass celebrated at 10 AM at Saint Mary’s Church, 640 Main Street, Shrewsbury. In lieu of flowers memorial donations in Duane’s name may be sent to Most Holy Trinity Monastery, 67 Dugway, Petersham, MA 01633 or St. Mary’s Parish Capital Campaign, 18 Summer Street, Shrewsbury, MA 01545.