Duncan Sybren Postma
Duncan Sybren Postma
Duncan Sybren Postma, 77, died peacefully on Monday morning, May 11, 2026, at the Margaret Z. Dozier Hospice House from complications of Parkinson's disease.
Born April 4, 1949, in Marianna, Florida, Duncan was raised on his family's cattle farm, a place he returned to throughout his life. He attended The Bolles School and Davidson College on basketball scholarships, playing point guard for Davidson’s Division I team. At Davidson, he earned third-team Academic All-American honors, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated cum laude in 1971. He later returned for a season as an assistant coach.
In 1973, Duncan began medical school at the University of North Carolina, where he discovered his interest in otolaryngology. Elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, he graduated with honors in 1977. After an internal medicine internship at the University of California, San Francisco, and a year of general surgery at Kaiser Permanente, he returned to Chapel Hill for his otolaryngology residency at the University of North Carolina, serving as chief resident from 1981 to 1982. He later joined the faculty as an assistant professor of otolaryngology and spent four years as medical director of the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic at North Carolina Memorial Hospital.
In 1986, Duncan moved to Tallahassee, where he and Dr. Michael Poole co-founded Tallahassee Ear, Nose & Throat–Head & Neck Surgery and Audiology Associates of North Florida. There, he helped establish the city’s first sleep center and served on its sleep apnea advisory committee. His practice expanded regional treatment for pediatric airway disorders, sleep apnea, and head and neck cancer, including reconstructive flap procedures. In 1996, he helped develop one of Tallahassee’s first electronic medical record systems.
Duncan was generous with his time. He served as board president of the local American Cancer Society. At Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, he chaired the Committee on Surgical Case Review and the Department of Surgery and sat on the Medical Executive Committee. He helped found Red Hills Surgical Center and served as its president for seven years.
As an inaugural board member of the Big Bend Regional Health Information Organization, Duncan worked to improve secure electronic communication among healthcare providers. He volunteered with the Capital Medical Society Foundation’s We Care Network and advocated for improved Medicaid funding for children. In 2018, he received the I.B. Harrison, M.D. Humanitarian Award.
Duncan taught throughout his career. He mentored medical and surgical residents and students while serving as an assistant clinical professor at Florida State University College of Medicine. At national otolaryngology meetings, he led courses on implementing electronic medical record systems.
In retirement, Duncan spent his time with family and found pleasure in reading, tennis, travel, and classical music. Friends, patients, and colleagues remember him as a man of integrity: an attentive listener, an empathetic physician, and a skilled surgeon. He was methodical, well prepared, and calm under pressure. He valued his colleagues, who admired his intelligence and judgment. Talented, kind, and understated, he had a dry wit and quiet charm.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Emily Vogt Postma and Jan Hendrik Postma, and by his longtime friend, Dr. Ray Bellamy.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Marie Hayes, M.D.; his children, Tom (Courtney), Audrey (Tomonori), and Galen; his granddaughter, Freya; his siblings, Jan Postma, M.D. (Sara Lynn), Tom Postma, M.D. (Sandy), Nancy Baxley (Phillip), and Michael Postma, M.D. (Kathy); his sister-in-law, Ann Hayes; and many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life will be held Friday, June 12, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. at Capital City Country Club. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Big Bend Hospice. Bevis Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.