Luke Terence Duffy

Luke Terence Duffy had a twinkle and sparkle in his eye that made one wonder what was going on in that mind. He was playful, mischceivious, delightful, and so deeply loved. To everyone around him, he seemed to be eternally happy, and he willingly shared that joy with anyone whose life he touched. For Luke, bringing out the best in any situation was as easy as offering a smile, a witty remark or that twinkle in his eye. And with just a smile you could feel his love. Luke mastered the art of living and loving, and when he wasn't sleeping, he was doing exactly that!

Luke was born on November 1, 1990 at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee at 5:50 am. He was 6 weeks early and weighed 5 lbs, 8.5 ounces. The day he was born he smiled at us! He was delivered by c-section by Dr. Ed Anderson and Dr. Mark Taslimi. His parents were Terry and Claudia Duffy. He came home from the hospital November 5th and the fall colors were spectacular! Due to being premature he had jaundice and he spent many hours soaking up the natural sunlight in McLemore Cove. He was a good baby. For the first 4 months he slept and ate. He rarely cried. He would laugh at his toys dancing in front of him with pure joyous laughter. While nursing, he would take a break and grin a mischevious grin with a twinkle in his eye, that made one wonder what he was thinking. Luke was christened in Indianapolis at Saint Christopher Catholic Church on 4-21-1991 at 1:00 pm by Father Mike Welch. His godparents were Jeff and Cheryl Neimeier, who were his aunt and uncle. We had a lovely reception at the home of his grandparents, Jim and Shirley Duffy.

As a baby he loved to hear his mommy sing Pussycat Pussycat!. Luke's first words were, uh-oh, ball and kitty cat. As a baby, balls and balloons made Luke laugh! He was doted over by his big sister Julianne. She entertained him with her toys and made him laugh! His first birthday was celebrated at the Grand Canyon. He tried to touch the flame of his birthday candle. The time came to learn to walk. He never walked! He stood up from crawling and ran! Because of that he had many bruises and black eyes! Luke ran every where. He was a fearless child. At 17 months old he was running outside on a neighbors driveway and fell face first onto her concrete driveway, cracking his right front tooth. We went straight to the pediatric dentist who offered a root canal, but the dentist said he would prefer to pull it. He assured us that in a matter of weeks it would not matter to us that his front baby tooth was missing, He also forecasted to us that most of the great athletes of our time had lost their front baby tooth/teeth due to accidents similar to his, so we should expect great things! As we now know, his prediction came true! Even as a child, Luke had the ability to lift the spirits of all those around him. He was raised to be warm, caring and friendly. He affectionately earned the name Lukee Pooh from his Oma. He couldn’t help but capture everyone’s attention with those chubby cheeks and sweetest smile. He was definitely a little bit of a show off, but in doing so, he succeeded in entertaining his entire family. Two years and 4 days after his birthday his little sister Carly Rose was born. He was so excited when she arrived. He said over and over, "I love that little baby, I just love that little baby!" Luke said it so many times before we came home from the hospital, we began to wonder if he really meant it or was he just trying to talk himself into it! He was such a good child, except when it was bedtime. He did not want to go to sleep. He was a night owl. Once I was trying to get him to lie down to go to sleep and I lightly spanked him once on his thigh, to try to get him to settle down. He looked right at me and hit me back! I laughed and realized at that moment, spanking was not going to work on him. He was never spanked again. Time outs were better and to threaten him with a time out was all you had to do. All I had to do was to count to three with a stern look on my face and he behaved; I rarely had to get to three.

Always a good playmate, Luke was easygoing and fun loving. Luke was raised with two siblings. He had one older sister Julianne Dominique, and one younger sister Carly Rose. Duplo and Lego were his favorite toys. The three were inseparable and when Julianne started preschool he would stand at the door waiting for her to get back home. His favorite bedtime story was," The Three Bears". We read that book over and over and over! Luke began school at Brainerd Baptist in K-3 and the following year K-4. He panicked and cried for 10 minutes saying that Mrs Cooper didn't love you like your mommy! Kindergarten began at OLPH Catholic School with Sister Frances Schaeffer, and he was miserable in kindergarten. I would pick him up and he was so sad and exhausted from trying to be good that he would turn himself off and go straight to sleep, seemingly to recover from the day of torture. In kindergarten if one child did something wrong, the whole class was punished. I remember standing at the door one way window watching this punishment and not liking it. It was so stressful on all the others who were good. First grade teacher was Mrs. Delores Howell. He thrived with her in first grade! She was relaxed and loved 1st graders and especially little mischeivious boys! The Christmas school program was a defining moment in his life. What a memorable 1st grader he was! He was called the next Jim Carrey! He had the whole school and audience at the Christmas Show laughing so loudly.. The teachers were overheard talking about him in the stairwell "wondering" who was going to get him next year for second grade! His classes were never dull! During grade school Luke became an avid reader. In the second grade he read the series of Goosebump books. He began reading the Hobbit and all the Lord of the Ring series. His second grade teacher had a conference with mom saying he can't read that far ahead. He was passing his reading comprehension test on the book so why can't he, I asked, She had no answer for me. So he was allowed to continue to read. He particularly enjoyed the Redwall series written by Brian Jacques. Science fiction was a favorite book subject and Micheal Crichton books some of his favorites. Then the Harry Potter series came out. But once the movies started coming out he became less interested in the last two books.

Luke visited Rocky Mountain National Park, learned to ski in Keystone,Colorado. Luke was only 4 years old learning to ski and he caught on to skiing quickly! He had only one speed, FAST! He once lost control in deep powder and hit a tree. That tree cracked his helmet! Luke, daddy and Julianne went snowmobiling in Yellowstone in the early 90's. During that trip they encountered some very smart ravens. They learned that you cannot leave your back packs unattended, because the ravens know how to open them! Many trips were made to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. And to a couple Duffy family reunions and to the Whitworth family reunions. His maternal great grandmother in McDaniels, Kentucky lived to be 100 years old. Luke attended her 100th birthday party and sadly her funeral several months later.

All of Luke's playful good humor carried over into his childhood. He was possessed with an outgoing personality, a lively imagination and a mellowed enthusiasm for life that allowed him to be constantly on the go. As a result, Luke experienced a rather active childhood, and this suited him very well. He took part in soccer, La Crosse, football, track and pole vaulting, disk golf, gymnastics and hiking. In his spare time he liked riding his bike and playing video games. His first video game was on Nintendo 64, Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda. He and mommy were addicted to Super Mario. They worked all summer collecting the 120 yellow stars! In the second grade, he loved the game The Legend of Zelda and he wanted the handbook that went with it and wanted his mother to read it to him. Mom said no, if you want to know what is in the book you will have to learn to read it yourself. Luke learned to read quickly and well! He sailed through the game and even had calls from eighth graders wanting him to help them play the game. He was amazing! He could be playing one level of the game, talking on the phone to another, explaining how to level up on a totally different level! By the end of the second grade he was reading at a eighth grade level. He dabbled in baseball, and skied at a very young age of 4 years old. He caught on to skiing very quickly! And he had only one speed, FAST !

Luke's memorable achievements included setting the Notre Dame High School record in Pole Vaulting that still stands to this day, and is the Pole Vaulting Tennessee region champion record holder.

Luke began scouting as a first grader in the Tiger Cub Scouts. Luke reached the rank of Eagle Scout. Luke camped out about 90 nights while in scouting. He had his father to serve as his Bear Cub Den leader and also for his Webelos and Arrow of Light Den leader. He had his father serve as his Scoutmaster for the last 6 yrs as a Boy Scout. During his scout years he went to the National Jamboree of 2005 at Fort A.P. Hill, Virgina. While on this trip he visited Washington, DC and there while visiting the WWII monument, he met his paternal grandparents by chance who had made a trip from Indianapolis, Indiana to go see Luke at Fort A P Hill, where his grandfather had once camped while in the US Army. That same summer before the Jamboree, Luke earned the 50 mile award by backpacking 53 miles in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and climbing some 10,000 feet over 5 days of backpacking and 4 nights on the trail. The first night was in Cosby Knob Shelter after entering park at Big Creek . The second night was the Peck Corner Shelter and he got to hear a lot of snoring that night . The third night he spent in a hammock he put up between two trees at camp site number 44 at McGee Spring at the north end of Hyatt Bald. The final night was at camp site number 38 the highest unprotected camp ground in the Smokie Mountains at 5800 feet. The final morning Luke got to climb a fire tower there and see the beautiful Smokies with clouds hanging in the valleys, before descending down to Big Creek. He ended up earning the backpacking Merit Badge after completing 10 nights on trails. He had fellow scouts Jon Mayfield, Ethan Nelson and scout master Terry Duffy and Assistant Scoutmaster David Mayfield on all the hikes and had Scouter Oliver Mayfield on the 50 miler. And had Patrick Doyle on one of the shorter back pack trips along with Oliver Mayfield. He also took a trip with a family and scout trip to the USS Yorktown, to camp on the aircraft carrier. He got to sleep in the barracks of enlisted men. and got to take a boat to the start of the Civil War at Fort Sumter. He also got to go on trips to Mount LeConte in the Smokies, both with his family in 2003 and with his scout troop in later years.

At 5 years of age Luke became a vegetarian. He didn't want to eat animals anymore. Near the end of fifth grade Luke's teacher became concerned with his daydreaming in class and not feeling well. He had been coming down at night complaining of feeling empty. He wasn't hungry just empty. That summer he would beg to stop and get something to drink. He loved the fruit flavored Sobee drinks and we thought it was because of the different designs of lizards on the bottles and their caps. He liked to collect the caps and bottles. One morning while playing video games with his friends, he jumped up and ran to the bathroom grinning ear to ear saying, he didn't know why he was having to go to the bathroom all the time! That is when mom thought to herself he might have diabetes! Sure enough he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and began insulin injections right away at 11 years old. On day 2 of his insulin, he gave his own injections to himself, because mom would cry doing it! When Luke was a freshman in high school his "friends" dared him to eat a hamburger! They stopped at Burger King on the way home from school and bought him a hamburger. He loved it! But after ten years of no meat his GI system suffered a bit from it! Luke would eat meat occasionally after that, but preferred a vegetarian diet, and loved to experience all types of cheeses and different kinds of beer and wine. As a sophomore in high school we changed his diabetes doctor and within the month he was put on an insulin pump. It changed his life. His A1 C'S went down fast to a reasonable number. The pump was a blessing.

Ask anyone who knew him from school and they would tell you that Luke was an amazing friend. A friend from high school said,

" Luke Terrence Duffy was one of the kindest people I had met in my life. He truly was a gentle soul who, at a young age, made an impact on my life. When I was in middle school and being badly bullied, Luke's smile was always such a welcome sight. Luke's locker was next to mine and he would always remind me not to let the words and sneers of the other girls hurt me. I will never forget you Luke. Thank you for that wonderful smile, I will carry it with me always", Jacqueline Ryan Cox.

It could be said that for Luke, grades may not have been the most important thing to him. Since experience was Luke's best teacher, he enjoyed hands-on learning and applying the “practical” approach to knowledge, rather than getting caught up in “theory.” Luke had a few broken bones during his high school days which required him to be on crutches his Freshman and Junior year.He was so talented on those crutches he drove the school nurse crazy with his handstands on crutches and his running to class on them. She threatened to put him in a wheel chair, then reconsidered when she thought of what he might invent to do in the wheelchair! . He enjoyed some courses more than others, having favorite classes and teachers. His favorite class in high school was Latin. The teacher he enjoyed learning from the most was his Latin teacher Ms. Speasmaker. Ms. Speasmaker wrote this note when she learned of Luke's passing:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Duffy, Carly and family,

I was shocked and saddened to hear about Luke's passing. I have been thinking about and praying for your family during this tragic time. I can't help but smile when I think back to my memories of Luke. He was one of the kindest, selfless and most genuine individuals I have ever met. I enjoyed watching him grow and mature over the course of high school. I remember when skiing with Luke in Breckenridge and Luke convincing me to ski a double black diamond with him. As we got to the top of the run, Luke took one look at the expression on my face and immediately realized it was a bad decision. Nevertheless, we made our way down and Luke repeatedly asked if I was doing okay. And he treated his classmates with same care and concern on a daily basis. He was an amazing person who will be missed by so many. Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Maggie Speasmaker

Luke graduated from Notre Dame High School in 2009. Luke is most known for his ear to ear smile! He was a friend to everyone. When Carly began high school and where ever she went the teachers would ask her if she was Luke's sister. He was famous, and she was Luke's sister! Luke's older sister had a baby boy named Cole McDonald. Luke immediately bonded with him and they were best buddies! Luke taught him to play video games and would go out of his way to do anything for Cole. Cole thought Luke was the best uncle ever and the greatest video gamer there was!

these are some of Luke's writings from his classes:

Luke Duffy

Mrs. Rhea

Composition 2

11/2/2013

Essay II

“Richard Cory” by Edward A. Robinson and “Death, be not proud” by John Donne both cover the topic of death. However one treats death as a something that comes unexpectedly while the other treats death as just another stepping stone in the natural path of things.

In “Richard Cory” death is treated as something that happens out of the blue while everything is still in the normal swing of things. It even shows this in the stories rhyme pattern. The poem uses ABAB to show that everything happens one after another while the story shows that life still has its curveballs. In the story Mr. Cory has charisma, physical fitness and loads of money; leading most people to think that he should be happy. However he realizes that even though he has everything he still has nothing because he can't relate to his fellow men. This leads him to the logical choice of death. Much like the author of this story Richard Cory is “Stark and Unhappy” (1).

“Death, be not proud” by John Donne takes on a different view of death. Instead of being spontaneous, death is something that is not only seen coming, but death is reduced to another obstacle that is moved past, in the path of life. In fact the author even claims that death can not kill him because he is no different than rest or sleep, and that in fact death even visits the best of men. Everything about this poem undermines what most humans consider death to be. Instead of being a brick wall this poem turns death into a curtain that is passed through only once, no matter where you end up, just like the song “Death is Not the End” by Bob Dylan (2).

In the end both of these poems have very different viewpoints on the topic of death. One is saying that death comes after you after a life full of silent misery and the other is telling you that one day you will die. Either way they are both pretty depressing.

Luke tolerated his college education years, and his imagination would run free. He would rather be hiking and witnessing sunsets. He was viewed by many of his classmates as being a helpful, creative, athletic person. For some spending and gas money Luke worked at Jimmy John's downtown Chattanooga and Knoxville. Working in downtown Chattanooga was a struggle because of lack of parking, so he walked many of the places he would deliver to. One afternoon a group of people called in a $180 order. Luke's delivery turn wasn't up yet but everyone there was complaining about taking the large order downtown for maybe a five dollar tip. Luke said he would take it, $5 was better than nothing . So he took the large order there and was tipped $100 dollars! He was so excited. It was the largest tip anyone had ever seen. Of course they wanted Luke to share it with them, but he refused to ! Luke was usually found at the center of things, whether it was during class or in extracurricular activities like ping pong. He was a jovial person who loved to share his passion for fun with others. Luke began college at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with an interest in dentistry. He became involved with the partying crowd and his grades suffered and was soon put on the warning list! He then attended Chattanooga State Technical Community College to get his grades back up and this is where he met his girl friend Feba Chacko playing ping pong. Life and love began for Luke when he met Feba! He was in love! At first he kept her a well guarded secret! He enrolled at Pelissippi State near Knoxville to be closer to his girlfriend. Feba was the love of his life!

FEBA'S STORY

All because of ping pong.

I met Luke at Chattanooga State, one evening. We both shared the love of ping pong. I had always seen him and many other guys playing, but I never went and asked to play. One day, I finally decided I wanted to play really bad, so i inched myself up to the table and asked to play the next game. So I finally got to play, and one by one I kept on beating all these guys that I was playing with. Finally, it was Luke’s turn and he came and basically wiped me of the table. It was quite embarrassing. So that’s really how I first met Luke. Days after, we always met on breaks and when we were done with class to play ping pong, along with Thaddeus and Victor Arellono. Soon after that, we all became pretty much the best of friends. I was actually “talking” to Thaddeus when we all first met, but soon after, it was apparent that he was not the one for me.

On January 1, 2012, Luke invited me to go on a hike with him, and this is when I first realized I liked him a lot more than just a friend. (we always considered this day as our “anniversary” even though it was not.) We had an amazing time just talking with each other.

A couple of weeks after, if I remember correctly, he showed up at Publix, across from my house, around 2 am on a Saturday night. We were sitting in his car and he said he had to tell me something. He then preceded to tell me how much he liked me, etc. I also told him I shared those same feelings, and I think from there it was just a mutual thing that we started dating. I remember the very next day we went to Earthfare and got sushi for our first “date.” And from there on we began our adventure as a couple.

Luke never actually encountered a stranger in his dealings with people. He was drawn to individuals and crowds, using his gregarious, adaptable and outgoing personality to captivate his audience. This quality allowed Luke to continually develop new relationships, ever widening his circle of friends. Luke delighted in his role among all his acquaintances, because he viewed them all as potential spectators for his performance. Whether it was a story, a joke, a song or just plain fooling around, Luke was always right at home putting on a show among his friends. Luke utilized his interest in others as a great way to connect with them. While growing up, some of his best friends were Joseph Barrows, Joe Nowotarski, Trey Watkins, and Jon Mayfield. Luke loved sharing life. Joe Nowotarski writes of the time they became friends;

Claudia,

Here is the first of many letters you’ll be receiving from me. When I think of Luke, I realize that it is hard to pick out certain memories over other ones. Every time I decide to elaborate on one, more come to the surface of my memory. I always took Luke’s presence for granted, assumed that he would always be here; it is an easy mistake to make. So, here is the first story I will relay about some of the wonderful times that Luke and I spent together.

Rewind nine years (I still cannot believe the time that has passed!), I had just “re-met” Luke during our freshman year at Notre Dame. I went to third grade at OLPH, but never had the pleasure of meeting Luke. We realized our senses of humor were extremely similar and that we lived in the same neighborhood. So, naturally, we decided that we would be buddies. The first step, of course, was a sleepover.

We spent that first happy fall Friday walking around the neighborhood and just getting to know one another. Night was falling and we still wanted to hang out, so he came over to my place for a sleepover. After being introduced to my father and realizing that they had the same short and muscular build, Luke decided to challenge him to a wrestle match (one that had turned into a bit of a grudge match over the years!) My father accepted the challenge. After a couple of minutes of rolling on the ground and huffing and puffing, Dad had pinned Luke. Luke claimed that Dad had bit him and thereafter gained the upper-hand, which enabled him to claim the win. Dad called the claims bogus, but Sam and I (the referees) know the truth (because Dad bit again during the rematch two years later!). After a friendly handshake the parents went to bed and Luke and I retired to my room upstairs.

We did the stereotypical things: ordered pizza, watched movies, and he filled me in on the girls from elementary school and who was hot and who was not. We played video games and just learned about each other. We stayed up late and passed out with the TV on.

That was one of the first times that I spent with Luke. He became a very close friend to me. We passed every day in and after school together, hanging out and just being kids. He introduced me to people at Notre Dame. Luke seemed to be friends with everyone. He had a magnetic quality to him and was so friendly; I do not have a single memory of him getting upset at anyone. Luke was outgoing (as you have just read, challenging my father to a wrestling match at their first meeting!) These traits made people congregate around Luke, whether you were in a large group of people or having a one-on-one encounter, he was always kind, funny and looking for a way to challenge himself.

Luke was a very special person. The times we spent together in high school contained some of the best moments of my life. There was no funner person to be young with. Not a day goes by that I do not think about Luke. It all still seems surreal. I miss him too.

Joe

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another memory from Joe:

Claudia,

I hope all is well and as the seasons change your lives are beginning to fall back into order. Luke’s passing still hits me hard, especially when I find myself driving alone in the car. Luckily, most of the thinking I do is reminiscing, remembering the good times Luke and I had together.

Here is another funny story. It was sophomore year of high school. We were at the peak of our sneaking around the neighborhood phase. Luke and I were spending the night at his house, and after a couple of hours of watching the Pirates of the Caribbean and playing video games, we realized yall were asleep. That meant it was time to sneak out!

This was a very special night. I had procured for us six bottles of Heineken, snuck from my parents’ fridge. It was the first time either of us had drank that much, and we intended to get drunk for the first time. Classic dumb kids! We climbed out the window, scaled the pillars on the front of the house and were on our way. We walked through the backyard and into Shadow Ridge, Doyle’s neighborhood. We used Luke’s phone to call Doyle and try to get him to join in the festivities. He didn’t answer. So, we moved onto the next step of the plan; find somewhere that we could guzzle down some beer!

We walked to the horse pastures close to the entrance of Shadow Ridge. We had decided that we were going to jump the fence and drink in the pasture on the right side of the road. As we were both climbing over the fence we heard something that scared the wits out of us. It was pitch black out, and all we could hear was thump, THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! Coming faster and faster and closer and closer! We looked at each other with wide eyes and ran back into the street, trying to ready ourselves for whatever was inevitability going to attack us. Then a giant, black horse came into view, it seemed to have just appeared out of the night. Luke and I breathed a sigh of relief, checked to make sure neither of us had crapped our pants, then just laughed at each other.

We felt so stupid. We both ran like little girls, petrified at the same time that we were trying to prove our manliness by achieving drunkenness for the first time. We laughed about that horse for years.

We decided to play it safe. “Let’s just drink these beers at the edge of someone’s backyard.” “Great idea!” It wasn’t. We found a house on the edge of the two neighborhoods with a nice woodsy backyard that provided, what we thought was, the perfect drinking spot. Long story short, we were waaay too loud and the man who lived in the house turned on all the lights, came out onto the backporch, and began walking through the backyard. We bolted!

Luke and I ran the short run back to his house. We climbed the pillar and exhaled (yet another) sigh of relief. We cranked up the Xbox and drank our beers in the safety of his bedroom. All night we recalled the action and laughed. We were never able to achieve drunkenness like we aimed to that night, but we vowed next time we would play it safe.

Luke is always in my memories. I think about him everyday. All the dumb stuff we would do was just... just so fun! It was the kind of silly, stupid things that were essential and pivotal in the lives of any high school boys. I miss him.

Joe

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another memory from Joe that he told at the funeral:

Claudia,

Here are some stories about the nights Luke, the guys, and I spent running around the neighborhood and having fun.

Well, first off it usually always started after school on a Friday. We’d decide who’s house we were all going to spend the night at, either Luke’s, Michael Bradley’, or mine. Next we’d swing by Walmart or Publix right before our curfew was called. There we would pick up the essentials (usually toilet paper.)

Then, like always, we would bide our time and wait until the parents were fast asleep. We’d always pass the time by watching the movie, The Warriors. The plot involved a 1970’s New York City street gang who was wrongly accused of a murder and had to travel through other hostile gang territory in order to get back to their home on Coney Island. We became obsessed with that movie, obsessed to a point that Luke, Patrick Healy, and I made t-shirts and invented our own gang “Uncontrolled Chaos.” Of course we weren’t a violent gang, we just liked the idea of comradery that came along with it.

After the respective parents where fast asleep we would then make our escape, and if that escape was from your house, then we had a very special means of egress. Back when Luke’s room was at the front of the house, he would open his bedroom window and we would climb out onto the brick facade and climb down the pillar on the front stoop. Many times Luke performed this feat with a broken leg and crutches, and many times someone would fall into the bushes below, resulting in minor cuts and bruises.

Once we got outside and into the night, the fun began. Mischief was in the air. We ran (or crutched) around the neighborhood, played ding-dong-ditch and thoroughly toilet-papered a house. Luke was always so athletic on his crutches; he always attributed it to his time as a gymnast. We would usually did this until we got some sort of response from either the neighborhood watch or a policeman patrolling the neighborhood. That was what we really enjoyed. We always had an escape plan and a rendezvous point set up, for when we inevitably split up and were chased in different directions. That was always the best part. We would later meet up, out of breath and panting, recalling the funny stories of what had just happened to us while we were running; it usually consisted of “I fell into some hedges!” or “I ran right by the cop and he didn’t see me!.” We thought we were so awesome. Hell, we were.

One night, Luke, Michael, and I were spending the night at my house. My older brother, Jack, had some of his friends over as well. We brainstorm the idea to roll Jack’s ex-girlfriend. We decided not only to roll her house, but also to pioneer a new type of childish vandalism, “confetti-ing.” The six of us spent hours, shredding stacks of construction paper into centimeter-sized squares. “This will be impossible to clean up,” we thought. We made our way to the backstreets of the neighborhood to our victim’s house and got to work. We threw what toilet paper we had in the trees and spread our confetti all over here front yard. It looked ridiculous. Of course then the cherry on top, ring the doorbell and run!

After that happened we all ran in different directions (of course there was one of us who was crutching.) We meet up in the designated area, a bush a couple of houses uphill and on the opposite side of the street, and did a headcount. We were missing one. We were trying to figure out where Luke had gone. He couldn’t have been too far; he was on crutches. Then we heard some dogs start barking at the top of the hill. I looked up and remember seeing a black shape silhouetted against the streetlight, crutching his way as fast as he could away from the sound of the barking dog. We laughed as Luke frantically crutched back and forth across the street but every time it looked like he had found a spot to settle down and hideout, another dog would start howling in the yard he was in. We laughed and laughed as we saw him going back and forth, again and again, under the streetlight, but it just seemed that everyone had a dog in their backyard that would start barking. Of course, lights started coming on in the neighboring houses and we all ran up to the street together, rendezvoused with Luke and went home.

Those nights were always the best. We owned the night. It seemed like we had the whole neighborhood to ourselves, to our little street gang of upper-middle class white kids. We were reckless, young, and just so alive with adrenaline. There is no better feeling than getting into childish trouble with your best friends. I wish I could go back to those nights of fun. It feels like ages ago.

Joe

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Mrs. Duffy,

I hope that the holidays were kind to ya’ll and the New Year brings promise of happier times. As I type this letter Alicia and I are driving to through the mountains for a frigid, but fun, night of skiing. It reminds me of the mutual passion that Luke and I shared, love of the snow.

It was our sophomore year at Notre Dame when Luke and I agreed that we would beg our parents to foot the bill for a school trip to Breckinridge, Colorado. After a lot of begging and a lot of chores my parents agreed. I know ya’ll agreed, but only if Mr. Duffy could hitch a ride and come along (smart thinking!). We departed from Notre Dame early one cold, Tennessee morning. During our short layover at the airport Luke and I convinced an eighteen-year-old senior to buy us some contraband…. A Playboy magazine! O boy, we were so worried that we were going caught by airport security and publically ridiculed. We fiercely debated which of us would be the mule and carry the magazine in our bag. We spent the entire plane ride watching the 30 Seconds to Mars’s music video for “The Kill” on Luke’s Zune (I suggest you watch the music video, it’s terrible).

We arrived at Denver International and were picked up by a big tour bus and driven out into the Rockies to the heaven-on-Earth called Breckinridge. After doing a little grocery shopping, and convincing the same eighteen-year-old senior to buy us some cigars, we arrived at the hotel. Luke, Evan Thibaud, Clint Barber and I quickly decided that we would be roommates.

The rest of the week was amazing! Days of skiing, hot tub-ing, sledding, and flirting with girls (which for Luke, included Ms. Speasmaker, the Latin teacher) seemed to fly by. Luke and I constantly argued which was superior, skiing or snowboarding. We came to the conclusion that skis were faster, but you could do more tricks on a snowboard. We convinced Clint (the first kid in the grade with facial hair) to shave half his goatee, vertically! He kept it all week. It didn’t help with the girls.

The entire group played a huge game of hide-and-seek throughout the entire hotel. We built a giant sledding jump next to the hotel and I think the worst crashes of the trip happened on the sled, and not on the slopes.

One night Luke’s sugar was low and he punched me in the face! He immediately apologized. I was so embarrassed, because my eyes started tearing up involuntarily and we were in front of all the girls (who were laughing uncontrollably).

I think my favorite memory from the trip was when Luke and I climbed up the mountain to the Double Black Diamond- EX terrain. No one else was brave enough, but of course, Luke accepted my challenge. It was only accessible through a hike up the ridge after riding the highest chairlift. It literally felt like we were on top of the world.

It was depressing coming home. I wish that week never ended. I miss Luke. It was strange coming home over the holidays. I kept finding myself looking at my phone, ready to call Luke and see what he was up to. To go on another one of our adventures.

Joe

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This is from Ben Howard:

My Tribute to Luke Duffy

By: Ben Howard

First off, this is directed towards Claudia Duffy- I am extremely sorry for your loss and understand you will be reading this; and that I want you to know that I am only revealing some of this stuff so you can know the side of Luke that was most likely kept secret from you. I now have a 2 year old son named Owen and can only imagine what type of pain you are experiencing right now. So I express my deepest feelings towards you, your husband, Juli and Carly.

I met Luke Duffy when I started attending Notre Dame High School. The typical crowd would have consisted of me, Joe Nowatarski, Michael Bradley, Calob Thompson, Houston Dover, Eric Phipps, Joseph Doyle and Taylor Roth. I started associating myself with Luke once I met Michael Bradley and Joe. The big bonding point for us was our interest in both rap music and ping pong. We had tendencies of riding around Mountain Shadows in his Acura and listening to “Duffle Bag Boy”, “Blueberry Yum Yum” and “I’m Me”. Luke was always a great person to hang out with. He was opinionated and would stand his ground if he knew he was correct.

I found myself driving to East Brainerd more and more every week to hang out with the crew. We would all meet up at the Mountain Shadows pool and would associate while Joe and Luke would attempt to skateboard- I always sucked at it. And, of course, being the youthful rebels we were, we would smoke our cigarettes. It was something about our persona that we wanted to do something that was frowned upon by parents all over the world. Parents hated the fact that we would smoke. They said it was a terrible habit to get into because it was addicting but we absolutely did not care! After talking for a while and inhaling our disease, we would then roam down to the actual playground where we would just mess around and sit on the slides, find the shade underneath some lay object and just hang out. Most of the time, we would also roam back in the tennis court area that was covered in moss and try to skateboard. There was also a wood type trail that we would go back to where we wanted to be concealed to smoke. Most of the times I had with Luke were inebriated but that is what made it so memorable.

Luke was one of the people I kept in contact with during high school because it was never boring going out there and hanging out. We would go down in his basement, take the items off of the ping pong table, and play for hours. Luke had wicked spin and was always a challenge for me- I prided myself on a certain skill level better than others. I was always competitive with every sport I played and I know Luke had the same mentality. Luke had quite the gaming selection. He was one of the first to have the XBOX 360 and we would play guitar hero, Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War and Call of Duty all night long after a good day of fun. I would always give Luke hell because I had this little boy crush on Juli- I think all of our friends did. Luke’s room was a good spot just to mellow out and watch movies- Luke had all types of movies on his laptop and collections of DVD’s we would watch, too.

One time Michael, Luke and maybe someone else were riding around in my Camry and we were hot boxing the vehicle driving down- next thing I know, I hit a mailbox while driving because I could not see. My car was called the “Big Monster”. Luke was creative in the sense where he once made a pipe made out of wood- I thought that was cool. A couple more memories come from Sophomore year where we had a massive party at Eric Phipps’ house. There was practically our whole grade invited to this party. I remember Luke and I were sitting on top of the dock just chilling for hours. We were drinking beer, taking shots of liquor and smoking cigarettes. That was one of those high school parties you would never forget. The cops came and were forced to leave- Pat O Leary said to a cop who asked if he was drunk that he was “High on Jesus” hahaha.

As I am sitting here, I still cannot believe he is gone. At one point, Luke and I were very close and shared many good times together. When I heard the news, I did not know how to take it because it had indeed been a while since I had spoken to him, but the memories were flying through my head and a state of confusion came over me almost tricking myself not to believe it. Acceptance is important through all of this. I never knew Luke to have any enemies. None. Not one person ever had a complaint about Luke. The amount of people at Luke’s visitation boggled my mind. He truly had a strong enough effect to bring in that crowd of people. I was never one of Luke’s closest friends, but I do know that Luke had feelings for our friendship and could make sense of the memories we all shared. As I am writing this, I may get off topic because of more memories that are coming to mind. We all used to play “Magic the Gathering” which was a strategic card game involving different spell cards, monster cards and equip cards. I am sure you will find some in Luke’s room. We would go to Joes or Calob’s house to play the games where we would just battle each other and just have fun. In the back of Calob’s yard, there was once an old dog house that was later converted into a smoke and drinking room once properly cleaned and vacuumed. We would all gather in there, smoke and drink until it was time to go back inside and continue to drink haha.

In the basement of Calob’s house was one of my countless memories. Around the ping pong table we had Jonathan Turl, Taylor Roth, Michael Bradley, Joe Nowatarski, myself, Patrick Casey, Calob Thompson, Luke, Matt Losee and Victor Parades. If only I could remember all of the times. Seriously. We would play beer pong, we created a game titled “Hike!” which would take too long to type out how to play but was basically a ping pong based game where you would alternate shots and try to knock over the other persons Styrofoam cup- and if it was knocked over- that person would have to drink. Luke and I were always into playing the actual ping pong game together. Luke and I had the honor of attending Chattanooga State together where we would also play ping pong in between classes. And sometimes during classes haha. I had a habit of skipping my classes to play ping pong. It was so damn fun to play against other people- completely social and competitive. Luke would get into rotation and play- we would even play each other if it played out that way. Feba would also play (one of the only girls that would play). She was not bad at it, either.

….It has been a couple of months since his passing now and I wanted to come back to writing this. I have since faced a death of a close woman in my life- my son’s grandmother. She was so sweet and nice to my son that it made me feel confused about why she had to leave; similar to Luke. Luke was a good friend and considered him that way for a long time. I hope you are doing well and are keeping up hope. My son will turn 3 in April, so he is growing up so fast. I try to upload photos on Facebook as often as I can so people can watch how big he is getting. Things slowly heal themselves after a passing of a loved one. Sometimes I ask Owen, “where is your Nana?” And he replies “she is at home. She is sick.” I break into tears every time I think about it because he is so young and can’t comprehend any of it at this age. He always follows that statement with “I miss her.” That gets to me every time. Because no matter what age you are at in life, you know the ones you love and feel that missing in your life. But what you don’t have makes you stronger!

I know a similar feeling to losing someone you love. I lost my father in 2010 and there are times where I get into these feelings of anger and depression because I felt like he held our family together. Like he was the one who brought us all to connect- and once he was gone, our family did not have that special bond anymore. Once again, things happen for a reason and we have overcome that since his passing. The strangest occasions would happen in my sleep. If this does not happen to you, maybe I am crazy. I will be sleeping and I will walk in through my front door at my mom’s house; as I walk in, I see my father lying down in his recliner. He was always in that recliner. I walk through the kitchen and I notice him sitting there, and he says “what’s up?” When he asks the question, I feel really confused because I don’t understand why he is asking the question. Because in my subconscious I know he is not truly there. But of course, I still answer. Every time I answer his question, he may come up with a generic response like “Ok cool. How was work?” Or something along those lines. And after he says that, I usually ask him a question like “Where have you been?” Because I know he is gone, or at least I think he is in my dream. And he says “I have just been on vacation for a few months.” After he clears that up, I just casually walk off and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. After finishing that, I come back in the living room and I ask him if he is sure he has just been on vacation and he assures me yes.

There are a lot of dreams where I will be communicating with my father. They are extremely odd but at the same time, they are comforting. Because I get to communicate with him in my subconscious. Either way it happens, it makes me happy. Then of course I wake up and realize it was a dream and I go on with my day… As time passed, the dreams slowly faded away and I did not have them as often. Now, I barely have them. I feel like this a great thing though. At the time I lost my dad, I was at my all time worst. I was doing drugs every day, drinking and driving, got into trouble with the police, and did not really have a care in the world. The meaning behind not having the dreams anymore is acceptance. Finally accepting what is no longer here. With that being said, it also brought wisdom upon me. Made me a better man.

If you ever have doubts or want to feel closer to Luke, just remember all of the great times you had with him. All of the people at his funeral and visitation, all of the camping trips you guys took, the adventures, the photos and most importantly your families memories. Now that one member has been lost, make Juli and Carly feel more important than ever. I love you Mrs. Duffy and I hope you enjoyed this. Keep your head up and you and your family will be in my prayers.

Ben

Though he never set out to gain individual recognition, Luke ha several accomplishments throughout his life. Some of his most prestigious awards included EAGLE SCOUT, and his 2nd in the state in Pole Vaulting. He holds the Tennessee State district record and the Notre Dame High School record in Pole Vaulting at 13 feet 2 inches. Coach Sompayrac tells of how Luke automatically took the track team under his wing and eased their nerves with jokes and laughter.

Living life in the fast lane suited Luke just fine. It is no surprise that he loved to travel and to visit new and different places. He was naturally curious about other parts of the world and loved the real life adventure that came from visiting them. Luke would visit the world online and was eager to share many places he found and would share those with me. The Great Blue Hole in Belize was one of his favorites. He fortunately got to see a lot of America. The giant sequoia trees were amazing to him as well as Volcano National Park. Favorite vacations included San Francisco, Canada, Montana, New York City, Niagara Falls, Arizona, Las Vegas, Colorado, Florida, Gatlinburg, Volcano National Park, Caribbean Cruise on the cruise ship Valor to the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

Luke loved animals and cherished his pets, enjoying them almost as much as he enjoyed being around other people. One of Luke's favorites was Choxy, a chocolate dachshund. He would sleep with Choxy on the couch just fine. They were best friends for Choxy is 6 years old. He had many cats as a young child, Twinkle and Boo, Siam, Stray, Lutter, Hershey and another Dachshund named Princess as well as a cockatiel named Squeaky. And a huge goldfish named Goldfinger. There were two white squirrels in the neighborhood that were elusive, and he was always had his eye out for them to capture their picture.

Luke had an eye for precious stones and rocks. He has a small collection! And sticks! As a child he loved sticks. We had many precious sticks. When he joined the Lacross team, I knew he would be a happy boy, he got to play with a big stick! And he was! Even went to a summer camp for Lacross at McCallie. His favorite pursuits were hiking in the mountains, enjoying nature, traveling, the blue holes in the area, and Disk Golf. He had an interest in glass blowing and was about to learn a little about that craft from his friend Josh. He loved to photograph interesting wildlife and beautiful sunsets. Luke was content to enjoy his hobbies alone but was also willing to share his interests with others.

Luke felt excited and challenged by certain sports. Ping Pong, disk golf and hiking were his favorite. And he loved to ski. He skied at Big Sky, Colorado, Sugar and Beech Mountains, and in Canada. Even if he wasn’t the best, Luke loved to participate and thoroughly enjoyed the competition and the pleasure of being around other people. In high school, Luke played football his freshman and sophomore year. He was on the track team all four years. In his college years, Luke continued to stay active by playing ping pong. He was the Chattanooga State Technical College Champion two years in a row. Luke was also something of a sports fan and enjoyed watching his favorite events whenever he got the opportunity. Tops on his list were basketball, extreme sports, American Ninja competitions, skinning, snowboarding, football and gymnastics.

In high school, Luke was a member of the knitting club as a freshman in high school. He and several of his buddies thought it was a neat way to meet girls! He helped at the East Ridge Nursing Home as a Activity Director for the elderly, and they enjoyed his attempts to make them active! More seriously he was a member of the Latin Club. In college, Luke joined the Ping Pong Club. Luke was an active member of the Knights of Columbus Council 6099. With the Knights of Columbus he would help with drives to collect money to support the needy children coat drive, the Beerfest and the golf tournament for the Right to Life and KOC scholarships.

Vested with a deep concern for spiritual development, Luke recognized that his faith was important to him throughout his life. He was a member at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church since birth. During that time, he went through First Communion and Confirmation. Luke was baptized at St. Christophers Catholic Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Luke attended in high school a program called Search. After attending Search he became a Search Leader for the next two Search programs. In college he recently (May 2014) attended Awakening, a college form of Search that strengthens your faith and invigorates your awareness of God in your life. Several times he told me of witnessing to friends that he believed in God and the afterlife. He once had a " spiritual moment" during a bad dream, when he saw his Oma come to him, and she said, 'It will be alright Luke!"; and he was comforted by her appearance. He said that he was sure that God was real and there is an afterlife.

Luke was so intelligent. Yet he never felt smart. Once a counselor called me for a meeting and said to me, "Do you realize how intelligent Luke is?" I said, "Yes, I have always known, but he doesn't feel he is, with the way teachers teach him." As a 4 year old he used to talk of finding a way to travel at fast speeds on light! I felt I had a four year old Einstein in my midst. This idea of traveling on light was the most memorable of his ideas and he would babble on on about how to do it! It gave me goosebumps to hear him talk of his ideas! He would talk as if he had brainstorm ideas, yet didn't know how to put his ideas to the test. He was a dreamer and he was only 4years old! I would tell him he needed to go to school to learn to be an inventor, because we certainly didn't have the ideas that he did or the ability to help or build his ideas and dreams. He had vision and imagination like Einstein and we had the biggest dreams for him. When he was a young child and would go to the doctor for well child visits and immunizations, he decided he wanted to be a pediatrician. Then when he broke his wrist and had to have an MRI, he was smitten with the idea of being a radiologist and then dentistry was a short interest. As he grew older he lost his desire to have a career. We would encourage him to go to school and choose something that would interest him, yet there was nothing there for him. Occasionally he had a few moments that interested him, most recently physics sparked an interest, and he expressed taking a few more physics courses, but wanted to get his grades improved, to attend UTC again. He never had a goal to become someone here on earth. He just existed, it seemed, for us, and he loved us. He lived love daily and brought joy to many every day through his job, and all those who were lucky enough to see him smile! Oh how I miss those hugs and texts from him saying he loved me, and that he was ok! In hindsight, maybe he was never meant to be anything here on this earthly planet. He was a special gift from God to deeply love and oh how we feel the deep pain at the loss of Luke. Maybe he was here for 23 years for us to nurture and love. And now God has called him home to be the beautiful and amazing soul that he is meant to be!

He is survived by his parents Terry and Claudia Duffy, two sisters Julianne Dominique and Carly Rose Duffy, a nephew Cole Brenden McDonald, grandparents James and Shirley Duffy, Grandfather Raymond Whitworth, many aunts and uncles and cousins and the love of his life Feba Chacko. Services were held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Luke was laid to rest in Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery in a touching ceremony with Father Jim Vick presiding. A dove release ceremony followed. The releasing of white doves helps to begin the grieving by opening the doors to letting go of our beloved Luke. Luke's father Terry released the spirit angel dove representing Luke to join the three other doves representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who were circling above and waiting for Luke. Luke's symbolic dove left a feather during flight for mom.

The Final Flight

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free,

I’m following the path God laid for me.

I took his hand when I heard his call,

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day,

To laugh, to love, to work, to play.

Tasks left undone must stay that way,

I’ve found that peace at the end of the day.

If my parting has left a void,

Then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,

Ah, yes, these things too I will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow,

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My Life’s been full, I savored much,

Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,

Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.

Lift up your heart and share with me,

God wanted me now, He set me free.

Luke brought joy to all of those around him. He didn't had a mean bone in his body. He loved to have a good time and always looking on the bright side of life. He loved to share his adventures, energy, wit, and his zest for all of his activities with his friends and family. Luke Terence Duffy lived life to its fullest and made everyone around him happier just for knowing him. Luke lived a life of love, and was deeply loved and he loved deeply. He will be remembered with a loving smile.