William Downing Duvall (1937 – 2023)

William D. Duvall, Known by many as Bill or “Doc,” was born on February 26, 1937, in Washington DC to William Andrew Duvall and Gladys Downing Duvall. The family, including a younger sister, Sandra, and a younger brother, Donald, lived in a home on Pennsylvania Avenue in DC.

William D. Duvall

Bill attended Anacostia High School. Upon graduation, he attended the University of Maryland, studying Animal Science. While at Maryland, Bill met the love of his life, Joyce Wilson. The two were married, and around that time, Bill was accepted to the veterinary school at the University of Georgia. Bill often commented about those four years being some of the best times in his and Joyce’s lives.

In 1963, a year before he graduated from veterinary school, Bill and Joyce welcomed their first and only child, William II. After his veterinary graduation, the small family moved to Vienna, Virginia, where Bill began practice at Blue Cross Animal Hospital. A couple of years later, and with the help of his father, Bill opened his own practice in Woodbridge, Virginia. It would be called Occoquan Animal Hospital. The hospital would become one of the leading practices in Prince William County, and after 25 years, Bill retired.

The family moved from Woodbridge to Hitch Hollow farm near Linden, Virginia. The farm had been in the family for many generations. Bill became a full-time farmer, growing crops and tending cattle over the years. He and Joyce purchased a vacation home on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. All was good for many years, but in January 2011, Joyce passed away at their Hilton Head home. She was 73 years old. Bill carried on without Joyce, but life would never be the same without her.

On May 23, 2023, Bill passed away while doing what he loved to do for so many years, working on the farm. Bill is survived by his son, Bill II, his partner, Melinda, and two nieces, Audra Moore and Pam Moore Vasserman.

A visitation will be held at Maddox Funeral Home in Front Royal, Virginia, on Friday, May 26, 2023, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. A graveside service will be held at Leeds Cemetery in Hume, Virginia, on Saturday, May 27, 2023, at 2:00 pm. There will be a procession to the cemetery on Saturday, leaving Maddox Funeral Home at 1:15 pm.