Manuel Duran

Manuel Duran, 94, of Topeka, went to be with the Lord on December 21, 2014 in El Paso, Texas. He was born in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexcico on December 1, 1920 the son of Ascension and Ventura (Mendez) Duran. He was preceded in death by his parents and his siblings: Estefana Avila, Nazario, Esperanze Nieto, and son-in-law Pablo (Paul) Martinez, Sr. He was a Carmen for the Santa Fe Railroad for 34 years, retiring in 1982. After retiring Manuel and Natividad moved to El Paso, Texas where he continued to play baseball with an "over 60" team and was inducted into Chihuahua, Mexico's Sports Hall of Fame. When they visited Topeka in 1991, Bob Hentzen, of the Topeka Capital-Journal, interviewed Manuel and entitled the article: "Duran: The Nolan Ryan of El Paso" (dated April 12 1991). Manuel was a professional baseball player in the Mexican Leagues similar to Triple- A ball and was best known as "El Pingo" to his teammates. Manuel continued to play baseball as a pitcher and fast-pitch softball as a second-baseman and talked fondly about the Marling Hornets, Morrell's and Guadalupe teams. He enjoyed vegetable gardening and traveling. He married Natividad Lopez in El Paso, Texas on April 24, 1941. She preceded him in death. He is survived by seven children, Jose Manuel (Rose) Lopez of Topeka, Jesse Richard (Mercedes) Duran of Topeka, Carmen (Paul) Martinez of Topeka, Cleopatra (David) Parr of Topeka, Rita (Enrique) Duran of El Paso, TX, Susan Duran of Topeka, and Theresa (Jose) Renteria of Topeka, two siblings, Francisco "Pancho" and Maria Duran of Mexico 17 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren, and ten great-great grandchildren. His family will miss Manuel and all the wonderful stories he told of his days playing baseball. Manuel will lie in state at the Brennan-Mathena Funeral Home on Friday after 2:00 p.m. where the family will receive friends from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. A celebration of his life will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday at the funeral home. Interment will follow in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made in his memory to LULAC and sent in care of Brennan-Mathena Funeral Home, 800 SW 6th Ave., Topeka, Kansas 66603. Online condolences and fond memories may be left at www.brennanmathenafh.com.