Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Hundreds laugh, cry at Patty Duke memorial

Mike Pearce, husband of the late  Patty Duke, embraces his nephew Mike Kennedy during a memorial service for Duke on Saturday, April 16, 2016, at Lake City Church in Coeur d’Alene. Kennedy told a humorous story about when Duke was his landlord. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)

The memorial service for Anna Pearce, better known to movie fans as Patty Duke, was the same mix of the personal and professional as her life. Pictures of her onstage or on the movie screen mingled with family photos and pictures of her dogs.

Mother Kathryn Joseph and Sister Mary Eucharista of the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church, came to know Duke and become friends with her. Joseph said Duke once narrated their Christmas show, and she never thought of herself as more important than anyone else, Joseph said.

“She would treat every one of us like we were the star,” she said. “That was so beautiful.”

Both women expressed their condolences to Duke’s husband, Mike Pearce, before the memorial.

“He’s really feeling it today,” Eucharista said. “His love for her is just deep and pervading.”

Mike Pearce greeted many of the people who arrived at the Lake City Church in Coeur d’Alene on Saturday morning, accepting hugs and listening to stories as he continued Duke’s legacy of being welcoming to everyone.

Duke had a profound impact on people through her work, said her son, Mackenzie Astin.

“She had an incredible ability to connect with people,” he said. “It was perhaps her greatest gift to the world – to make people feel included.”

In 1982, Duke was diagnosed as bipolar. At the time, mental illness was in the shadows in Hollywood, but Astin said she tackled it with “good old-fashioned guts” and treated her diagnosis as a “badge of honor.”

She used her fame to increase awareness of mental illness and reduce the stigma, often giving talks to a wide variety of groups about her struggle.

“She made it OK to be who you were,” Astin said.

Duke received many awards and accolades for her work over the years, but Astin said her favorite was the 1983 People’s Choice Award in the category of favorite female performer in a new television program. It was her favorite because it was from the people, not a “slightly stodgy academy,” he said.

In 1987, Duke wrote an autobiography titled “Call Me Anna” that spoke about her life as a child star and her bipolar disorder.

“It’s been 30 years since she made her private life public,” Astin said.

Stories were told that had the crowd either roaring with laughter or wiping away tears. People spoke of the large presence that went along with her small size, the love she showed to others and her advocacy for mental illness.

Actress Melissa Gilbert first met Duke when the two filmed the 1979 movie “The Miracle Worker.”

“From the moment we met, we were as thick as thieves,” Gilbert said. “We laughed and cried on and off camera. Anna loved to laugh.”

Their friendship continued for 40 years. “She had courage like I’ve never known,” Gilbert said. “She was one in a million. She had moxie.”

Mike Kennedy, Duke’s nephew and a former Coeur d’Alene City Council member, thanked the hundreds of people who attended the memorial for coming. He also thanked the community for welcoming Patty Duke with open arms when she moved to town in 1990.

“Thank you, simply, for calling her Anna,” he said.