Duncan Burford

Duncan Burford, M.D. died October 11, 2025, at the age of 92.  He was born in Monroe, Louisiana.  Dr. Burford practiced medicine in the field of psychiatry in Billings for 45 years.  He was respected by patients and colleagues alike.

Dr. Burford graduated from Louisiana State University in 1959 where he became a “Fighting Tiger” and passed that passion down to his children and grandchildren.  He also attended LSU medical school.

He completed his medical internship at the University of Chicago clinics and completed his psychiatric residency at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.  It was there that he met his first wife, Alice (Woldstad) Burford, originally from Valier, MT. They married in 1963 and lived in New Orleans until 1973. Their children Kris and Drake were born while they lived in N’awlins. IN 1973, they moved to Billings to be closer to Alice’s family or origin.

In Billings, Dr. Burford had a private practice, worked part-time at the Mental Health Center early in his career, and taught at the physician assistant program at Rocky Mountain College.  He also was a preceptor with the Riverstone Health Center Family Practice Residency Program.  He especially enjoyed integrating psychiatry into the larger practice of medicine.

In 1992, Duncan lost his wife Alice to cancer.  Shortly after that, he bought an antebellum plantation home outside of Jackson, Mississippi that had been in his family since the 1800’s.  He loved that plantation called Woodbine, visited often and loved hosting family reunions there.  Though Duncan lived in Billings for 52 years, he never totally lost his southern drawl and definitely did not lose his southern charm.

He married Vicki Niemanstverdiet in 1995, and they started their new chapter together, blending their families in Billings.  Vicki and Duncan celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on January 1, 2025.

Duncan served on a number of community and professional boards during his psychiatry practice in MT and retired in 2017.  He belonged to the American College of Psychiatrists which is an honor reserved for only about 750 psychiatrists in the nation.

While devoted to his psychiatry practice, he maintained a good work-life balance.  He enjoyed playing tennis with a dedicated group of friends and was supportive of the Elks Tennis Center being built.  He absolutely loved sailing and planning many family and friend vacations around that activity, being especially fond of passing his knowledge of sailing on to family and friends, whether it was a week’s adventure in the San Juan Islands, or a long weekend on Flathead Lake.  He was a patient teacher of downhill and XC skiing to his family.  One of Duncan’s “happy places” was the cabin he and Alice built on the West Boulder River near McCleod, MT not far from the Roadkill Café where he liked to eat.  Thanks to his love for all things outdoors, his children learned to appreciate the specialness of living in Montana. In later years the family home in Red Lodge became a great spot for weekend skiing, summer hikes, and family and holiday gatherings.

Duncan loved to

·         Hike all over Montana, especially in the West Boulder River Valley, the Beartooth Mountains and Glacier National Park.

·         Collect art, especially Montana based artists

·         Dance anywhere, any time.  He and Vicki took ballroom and jitter bug dancing lessons and danced all over the world.  They even won a contest once!

·         Have adventures, not trips!

He sailed on a 1914 sailboat with Earthwatch, an organization dedicated to environmental wellbeing.  He and Vicki counted dolphins and sea turtles in the Mediterranean Sea; got to go out on an inflatable dinghy and let the pilot whales scrape the bottom of the dinghy and then come up to “blow” all over them. As a result of that research, the shipping lanes near the coast of Spain were changed to protect the dolphins in that area.

He went to Zambia when a niece was studying chimpanzee behavior at a refuge for rescued chimps in Africa.  Duncan was especially thrilled to take some of the baby chimps on a bush walk one morning, although it took him by surprise when he realized they like to climb up the trees and jump down on the very people who were carrying them seconds earlier.

Duncan went to New Orleans for 2 weeks some time after Katrina devastated the city and assisted people who were trying to restore their lives psychologically after that traumatic event.

He is immediately survived by his wife Vicki; his daughter Kristin (Alan) Brester of Fort Smith; his son Drake (Ivy) of Livingston; his stepson Andrew (Jessie) Niemantsverdriet of Billings; his stepdaughter Sara (Brad) McDale of Bendingo, Australia.  His five grandchildren Owen (18) and Beau (16) Niemantsverdriet, Devan (14) and Alice (11) Burford and Isla (4) McDale.  He is also survived by his sister Liz McNew of Shreveport, LA; a stepbrother Pete Gregory of Natchitoches, LA and was especially fond of his sister-in-law Jean Posusta of Billings, MT.  He is preceded in death by his first wife Alice.