Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Fr. Duffey was a people person, champion of the poor and elderly
Fr. Duffey was a people person, champion of the poor and elderly
by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 4, 2008
Detroit — Fr. Thomas Duffey saw the best in everybody as he humbly strove to bring Christ's love to the poor and the elderly, those who knew him said last week.
"He was a very gentle man," said Racine Dominican Sr. Mary Watson, a longtime friend of Fr. Duffey. "He related to people and related to all their needs. He was always there when they called, and he always heard the call of the people."
Fr. Duffey died on Christmas Day at the age of 83. He had served the Archdiocese of Detroit as a priest for 58 years, 24 as pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Detroit.
Fr. Duffey was born Aug. 29, 1924, in Detroit. He attended Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and Mount St. Mary Seminary in Norwood, Ohio.
He was ordained May 21, 1949, by Cardinal Edward Mooney.
He served as an assistant pastor at St. Mary Parish in Wayne from 1949 to 1952; St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Pontiac in 1952; St. Pius X Parish in Southgate in 1952; Our Lady Queen of Peace in Harper Woods from 1952 to 1956; Christ the King in Detroit from 1956 to 1961; St. Joseph in Wyandotte from 1961 to 1965; Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Detroit from 1965 to 1966; and St. Gregory in Detroit from 1966 to 1967.
He was chaplain for St. Mary's Residence for Girls in Detroit in 1972, and in the same year was temporary associate at Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn. He then served as pastor of St. Brigid in Detroit from 1967 to 1972, and at St. Christopher in Detroit from 1973 to 1977. He was pastor of St. Patrick Parish from 1977 until 2001.
Fr. Duffey's friends say he was down-to-earth and always was among the people he ministered to, whether they were parishioners, the poor on the street, or those at the senior center.
"He was the greatest at visiting the sick in all hours of the night," recalled Sr. Watson, who ministers at St. Patrick Senior Center in Detroit. "I just had a senior say to me, 'I remember when he came in the night to visit my mother.'"
Fr. Duffey had a special passion for the St. Patrick Senior Center, as well as the inner city. Sr. Watson said that, upon news of Fr. Duffey's death on Christmas Day, many of the regulars at St. Patrick Senior Center recalled fond memories of their friend, who visited the center every day of his pastorate.
Fr. Duffey also started a food pantry at St. Patrick Parish. Sr. Watson recalls Fr. Duffey's earnestness as pastor of the parish. He would drive the church's bus around the city and pick up seniors and others off the street.
"He didn't know whether they were Catholic or not," Sr. Watson said. "He would pick them up and take them to church.
"He was ready to give his life, when it came to St. Patrick, to the poor. He had his heart there all the time, right from the beginning, to work for the poor."
Through his ministry at St. Patrick, Fr. Duffey also earned the respect of his fellow inner-city pastors.
"He was a man of the people," said Fr. Norman Thomas, pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Elizabeth parishes in Detroit. "He was down to earth, never put on any airs, and always spoke the truth. He listened and always did whatever he could do to help people."
Fr. Thomas said it was Fr. Duffey's humility that played a significant role in his ministry.
"He saw that everyone was a child of God, and he never felt that he was ever better than anyone else," Fr. Thomas said. "There was no superiority about him that caused him to look down on everyone. That was very important to who he was.
"He was a great advocate for the Church, for the poor people, because he felt he was one of them."
Fr. Duffey's family and friends say they'll remember him for his personality, too — he had a great sense of humor, loved people and was proud of his Irish heritage. He enjoyed company and an occasional drink and cigar, and loved to dance.
"He was very much a people person," said Rita Duffey, Fr. Duffey's sister-in-law. Fr. Duffey had lived with her and his brother, Peter, in Sterling Heights for the past three years.
"He was very easy to get along with, was always cheerful, never complained about anything and never spoke bad of anyone," she added.
Those who knew him said Fr. Duffey had a great love for family — his own and the families of others. When his brother-in-law Greg O'Neil died, leaving his sister Anne with four young girls, Fr. Duffey became a father figure to his nieces.
"He's been like a second dad to my sisters and me," said Kathleen Bojarzin, the eldest of those nieces.
Bojarzin said she was blessed to be able to drive Fr. Duffey to Mass at St. Patrick each week after he became a senior priest. She said the love he had for the people and the way he showed it — once literally giving someone the clothes off his back — exemplified Christ.
"It was just so evident, his love for God and his faith," Bojarzin said.
"You know how you're supposed to model your life after Christ? Fr. Tom was a great example of someone who tried to do that every day."
Fr. Duffey is survived by his brothers Robert and Peter, sister-in-law Rita, and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brothers Joseph, Daniel ("Jack") and William; and sisters Anne O'Neil and Margaret Hetu.
Fr. Duffey's funeral Mass was Dec. 29 at St. Patrick Church in Detroit. Interment was in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield.
Memorials may be made to St. Patrick Church or St. Patrick Senior Center, both at 58 Parsons St., Detroit, 48201.
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