David B. Duff

David B. Duff, of Macomb, NY died on August 9, 2024. He was 78 years old. The son of Dr. Ivan F. and Betty Anne Duff, David was born in Washington, DC, in March 1946, and grew up in Ann Arbor, MI where his father was a member of the medical faculty at the University of Michigan.

David attended Ann Arbor Schools, and was a member of the first Ann Arbor High School Hockey Team in 1963. In 1964, the team won the state championship. He went on to study at Colgate University and the University of Michigan before graduating from Northern Michigan University in Marquette in 1969. He taught high school Social Studies in Grand Blanc, MI before moving to northern New York State as part of the back-to-the-land movement in the late 1960s and lived there for the rest of his life.

As a new farmer, David was “full of enthusiasm and short on experience” and people were generous with information and help as he learned to raise replacement dairy cattle for his milking neighbors. He also kept oxen, which he used for his firewood business and other farm tasks, showing them at local fairs and festivals. He felt embraced by the North Country farming community and David noted that he felt like an adopted son to those whose own children were leaving agriculture. However, “like so many with dreams based on hope, more than substance,” David learned that the economics of farm life didn’t conform to his vision. And so, he adapted. With curiosity and conviction, David taught himself multiple trades and began to “work out” for others. He took BOCES classes to learn how to maintain equipment and to weld. By the time he retired in 2019, he was a capable carpenter, stone mason, roofer, welder, contractor, and dock builder whose big heart and skilled hands had improved hundreds of homes and touched even more lives throughout the North Country.

David came of age in a university town during the 1960s which nourished his activist spirit. He worked as a “Psychedelic Ranger” at rock concerts in Ann Arbor, where police agreed to stay out of the venue if the participants policed themselves. He built a coalition to address concerns with low-level military flights over the Adirondacks. Throughout his life, David was a staunch advocate for the common good and he worked to establish common ground between people with often radically different viewpoints. He was an active participant in local government serving on the Macomb Town Planning Board for more than 30 years. He also served on the St. Lawrence County Planning Board, Little River School Board, and St Lawrence County Home Consortium. He volunteered on numerous local projects and initiatives, from siting landfills to organizing metal and tire dumpsters for residents to creating habitat for the Common Tern. He helped to start Beaver Creek School in Pierce’s Corners, a K-8 school focused on cooperative learning, individualized programs, and fundamental skills, with active involvement by parents.

David is survived by his wife of 29 years, Susie Wood, his daughter Katie Snyder, (Ed), and grandson Jonathan, Nassau, NY, and his brother, Frank Duff (Nancy Rees) and his family, Pendleton, OR.

There will be a memorial gathering on Sunday (September 22, 2024) at 3:00pm at the Gouverneur Community Center, 4673 NY Route 58, Gouverneur, NY. Please come and honor David with your remembrances, tributes and funny stories.

By way of remembering and honoring David, please plant some trees, conserve some land, and take long walks with loved ones.