29 December, 2016
Dr. John Healy Duffy, 88, of Hopkinton, MA died peacefully in the presence of loving family members on Saturday, December 24, 2016 at Oak Knoll Healthcare in Framingham, MA. Born May 25, 1928, Dr. Duffy grew up in Fall River, MA with his parents and three younger sisters. He attended Durfee High School in Fall River, where he played trumpet in the high school band. After graduating from Durfee in 1945, Dr. Duffy enlisted in the Army and served at Fort Sheridan, IL until 1947, where he played trumpet for the 5th Army band. Dr. Duffy studied at Boston University, where he rowed with the varsity crew team. After two years at BU, Dr. Duffy was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry. While at UPenn, Dr. Duffy married Mary Jo Brennan, of Providence, RI, on September 6, 1952 in Falmouth, MA. After graduating from UPenn in 1953, Dr. Duffy worked as a dentist with the Public Health Service in Elizabeth City, NC and Bethesda, MD until 1957. He then started a dental practice on Union Avenue in Framingham, MA, where he practiced dentistry for 50 years until 2009. Dr. Duffy and Mary Jo lived for two years in Ashland, MA, then moved to Hopkinton, MA in 1959 where they raised 12 children and have lived ever since.
Dr. Duffy was a devoted husband and father, a steadfast man of faith and action, greatly loved by family and friends and respected by all. The consummate family man, he worked tirelessly to provide for his family of 12 children; for a period of over 20 years he had at least one child in college each year. He spent endless hours playing backyard sports with his children and their friends, leaving behind many happy memories and lessons of teamwork and fairness. An excellent athlete, Dr. Duffy played many sports including tennis, which he continued well into his 80s. Dr. Duffy had a summer cottage in Falmouth, Cape Cod, where he loved to spend as much of his summers as possible relaxing with friends and family and swimming in the ocean. A dedicated public servant, Dr. Duffy served the town of Hopkinton from the 1960s to the present in many capacities including Appropriations Committee, Board of Selectmen including a term as chairman, Planning Board, and Board of Assessors. He was a member of the original planning committee for the Keefe Vocational Technical School in Framingham. In recognition of his many decades of service, Dr. Duffy had the honor of firing the gun to start the Boston Marathon in April, 2015. An accomplished musician, Dr. Duffy loved big band and swing music. He played trumpet and trombone in the Starlighters dance band in the 1970s, performing at the annual Hopkinton Republican Town Committee dinner dance and other local events. Dr. Duffy was particularly proud of playing in Hopkinton’s 275th anniversary parade in 1990, in the annual 4th of July Horribles parades, and with his children and grandchildren at every possible opportunity. A longtime parishioner at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Hopkinton, Dr. Duffy sang and played trumpet in the St. John’s Latin Choir, which recorded an album entitled “The Latin Choir…Sings.” For over 30 years, Dr. Duffy provided weekly gratis dental services to the Sisters of St. Joseph at Bethany Hospital in Framingham, MA.
Dr. Duffy leaves behind his beloved wife of 64 years, Mary Jo (Brennan) Duffy, daughter Christine and her husband Gaston, son Thomas and his wife Nataline, son Michael and his wife Pam, daughter Mary and her husband John, son Robert and his wife Sharon, son Peter and his wife Diane, son James and his wife Patti, daughter Letitia and her husband James, son Richard and his wife Doreen, daughter Kathleen and her husband Dan, 45 grandchildren, 1 great grandchild, and his sisters Deborah Fritsch of Sun Prairie, WI, Andrea Goldthwaite and her husband David of Hebron, NH, and Mary Regina Giovino and her husband Joseph of Falmouth, MA. Dr. Duffy is predeceased by his father Andrew L. Duffy, his mother Deborah B. (Healy) Duffy, and his sons James W. and John H. Jr.
VISITING HOURS
Thursday December 29, 2016, 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Callanan Cronin Funeral Home
FUNERAL MASS
Friday December 30, 2016, 10:00 AM at St. John the Evangelist Church
Family friends are welcome to gather at the funeral home starting at 9:00 a.m. for procession to the church.
BURIAL WITH MILITARY HONORS
Saturday December 31, 2016, 10:30 AM at St. Patrick's Cemetery, Fall River
