DUANE KLUNDT—RINGLEADER WITH EMPATHY By Suz Trusty

If you have attended a TPI event in the last few years, you’ll have seen Duane Klundt. Whether it’s rallying his team for the spirited trike race competition in San Diego this past February, or shepherding attendees as co-host and bus leader for the Live Show & Tell in Portland this July, he’s the ringleader with the empathy and ability to make everyone feel welcome and very com- fortable joining in the fun.

With over 35 years of experience in the turfgrass industry, he’s passionate about his work and dedicated to mak- ing a positive impact through every- thing he says and does.

Duane is vice president of turfgrass sales for North America for Grassland Oregon. He’s a long-time TPI member who is committed to serving the as- sociation and its members. He began serving on the Board of Trustees of TPI and The Lawn Institute (TLI) in September of 2008, shortly after the summer field day in Calgary, Alberta,

Canada. He just went off the Board the end of June this year, follow- ing seven years of service, including two years as secretary-treasurer. He’s currently chair of the TLI Research Committee. And all that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

When people talk about Duane you’ll hear of his dedication, commitment, loyalty, honesty, perseverance, service, compassion, humility, faith and love— and that big dose of humor that evens the balance. You’ll hear intelligently- curious, research-orientated, analytical and astute in business matters, willing to listen and to work collaboratively to solve problems.

Duane Klundt is not one who bases his life on what the world may deem im- portant, but on the firm foundation of faith, family and friends, all with a joy of living that’s downright infectious.

LOOKING BACK Duane says, “I was born in a small hos- pital in Pierre, South Dakota, with the

Duane and Dana celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in 2006.

same doctor and in the same room as my mother. My roots are in agriculture as both my parents’ families were from rural farming areas in the Dakotas. Due to work, my family moved to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. I started working in agriculture when I was about 14, moving irrigation pipe, buck- ing hay, plowing fields, even driving a truck, but not really appreciating what I was doing.”

He was a multi-sport athlete in high school and was invited to play football at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. He enrolled as a communi- cations major hoping to get into the broadcast business. “They taught us to sell advertising. We’d needed to create the ad, and go out to the client and play it for their approval,” says Duane. “I was an on-air voice for the Univer- sity’s radio show three or four times a week and did the women’s basketball play-by-play. It was a great learning experience. If I’d have gone to college as eager to get an education as I was to play football, broadcasting might have been my career path—as it became for several of my former classmates.”

Instead, he returned home planning to earn enough to go back to college. Duane says, “So I took on a few odd jobs looking for a direction.” He worked as a motorcycle mechanic, vacuum sales- man, mobile slaughter butcher, and then found his way back to agriculture.

Duane says, “I worked for a local seed processing plant. I worked on process- ing and packaging of the various seed varieties that someday I would sell. That was where I discovered there was more to grass seed than mowing it.”

In 1983, Bill Rose of Turf-Seed Inc., Hubbard, Oregon, offered him a posi- tion. “Accepting that offer turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made,” Duane says. “It introduced me to the real turf industry, the one I still love working in today.”