The Wave - Dedicated to Patrick Duffy

THE WAVE

In memoriam of Mr. Patrick Duffy,

beloved Seacrest faculty member

and husband of Mrs. Erin Duffy.

Patrick was married to Erin Walsh Duffy for 40 years. In addition to Erin, Patrick is survived by his daughters Winifred, Katie, and Peggy. Patrick joyfully loved his grandchildren Eleanor, Cecilia, and Joey.

The Seacrest Softball team paid tribute to Mr. Duffy with these patches on their hats and helmets. Seacrest was proud to call Patrick the "Voice of the Stingrays", as he announced games. Visiting teams and umpires looked forward to his exciting baseball trivia games, witty play-by-play, and outstanding music playlists that perfectly reflected the moment.

"During the class of 2013 senior prank, when we wrapped his entire classroom in tin foil." - Elizabeth Feins, Seacrest Class of 2013

Pat Duffy was our friend. - selections from the eulogy prepared by Mr. Howard Schott, Head of Upper School

Pat Duffy was many things to us gathered today in his honor.

He was our musician, our walk-on actor, our steelworker, our play-by-play announcer and fan of all things Pittsburgh, our man of faith, our teacher, our colleague, our friend, our grandfather and father, and finally, our example for what it means to live life with humor, empathy, humanity, and unique purpose.

I did not forget, Erin. He was also a husband. Many of us share that with you because on a tough day, we heard enough about Pat's eccentricities from you to feel that we knew exactly what it was like to live with him.

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As Pat got older and wiser, his teaching philosophy transformed. He focused considerably less on the finer points of Latin and more on the energy, curiosities, and stories his students brought into the room. I often encouraged Pat to assign more work. I implored him to focus on classroom management. He would smile and nod and not change a thing. He understood something special. That if you see the best in children even when they are at their worst, if you offer them the love of your complete attention and acceptance, if you show them by example how to be completely yourself, they will not necessarily learn a lot about Latin, but they will learn something way more important and profound.

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As a colleague and friend, Pat brought his signature patience and attentiveness. He was the best person to discuss teaching failures or frustrations with because in his quiet way he reminded you that you could never blame children for an issue in the classroom. When you needed a laugh, he was always there with a witty and erudite comment.

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Yesterday in the Upper School, we spent part of the morning sharing stories about Pat. The wonderful thing about these stories is that after you tell one, two more come to mind, then four more, and so on, like cell division. It seems we have so many Pat stories to tell and to share. I ask that all of us here today keep telling our Pat stories so that his singular existence grows on far into the future. There was no one ever like Pat Duffy, and there never will be another like Pat Duffy, and the world needs to know.

Click above to watch a video of Mr. Duffy produced by Madison Krol,

Seacrest class of 2015.

"Every year our school put on an awards ceremony to acknowledge the academic achievements of its students. The teachers all gave books as gifts, and would usually write a little note inside of the front page to the student.

I took Mr. Duffy's Latin class and won his award that year. When I heard the news of his passing, I went to my bookshelf after work to try to find the award and reread the note he might have written me back in high school. It then occurred to me that Mr. Duffy was the only teacher that year who didn't get anyone books as awards; he simply picked coconuts off the tree at his house as he was walking over to the ceremony and gave them to us.

I don't know what I did with that coconut now, but that memory will always stick in my mind and make me smile when I think of him. Mr. Duffy was one of the most kind, humble, and wonderful people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. I am so thankful for that coconut and the hundreds of other memories I have of him that make me smile and laugh, and inspire me to live a kind, humble life as he did." - Ashlee White MacDonald, Seacrest Class of 2008