John M.
"Jack" Duffy, 91, of Topsfield
Road, Ipswich, died Friday, August 20, 2010 in the Caldwell Skilled
Nursing and Rehab Center following his extended illness.
Born in Lynn on December 24,
1918, son of the late James H. and Winifred M. (Maroney) Duffy, he
graduated from Lynn English High School in 1937 and from Harvard
College in 1941, majoring in history and minoring in electrical
engineering. During World War II he served in the Army Signal
Corps and was part of the Normandy invasion as a communications
specialist. To complete his tour the
Army sent him to White Sands Proving Ground, NM, where he worked
with Dr.vonBraun during 1946-47.After the war, he
taught math at Lynn English High. He later joined Varian Associates
as a electronics engineer. Jack
then worked as a satellite tracker for Lock-Martin in Greenland ,
California and New Hampshire.
He was an active member of the
Northshore Unitarian-Universalist Church in Danvers, serving on the
church board for five years. All his
life he remained an energetic mountain climber, sailor,
environmentalist and photographer. New England was perfectly
suited to those interests. He climbed the White Mountain Range many
times, sailed off the Massachusetts coast, hiked in Essex County,
studied the flora and fauna. He wrote poems about his observations.
And with his camera he chronicled family and friends and his
environment.
He is survived by his nephew Owen Ferrini of Gloucester, and three
nieces: Jane Beswick of Lexington, Sheila Ferrini of Chelsea, and
Martha Harpin of Ruckersville, VA, his grandniece Carrie Ferrini,
grandnephews Ben Ferrini and Matthew, Mark and Michael Harpin.
He was predeceased by his
brother Jim Duffy and his sister Peg Ferrini
A memorial service will be held
at the Northshore Unitarian-Universalist Church, 323 Locust Street,
Danvers, on Saturday, September 25 at 11 a.m. Donations in his
memory may be made to the Essex County Greenbelt Association, 82
Eastern Avenue, Essex, MA 01929.
