Robert Bob E. Duffy

Robert “Bob” Duffy, 70, passed away peacefully on September 8, 2010 with his loving wife by his side. Until the end, he was optimistic and relentless in his twenty year battle with prostate cancer.

Bob was born on October 10, 1939 in Teaneck, New Jersey to Paul and Frances Duffy and grew up in both New York City and Bergen County, New Jersey. He was an only child, but was very close to his identical twin cousins and fraternal grandmother. Bob graduated from Hasbrouck Heights High School in 1957. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology and completed his education at New York University with a degree in accounting. He was a certified public accountant in the state of New York.

In 1969, while working for GAF, he was transferred to Portland, Oregon. Moving to Oregon was a tremendous and life-changing event for Bob and his family. After leaving GAF he worked for Willamette Western and then American Steel, spending the final twenty-two years of his career as CFO for American Steel in Portland. Bob retired early in 2001 in order to spend time with his wife Melissa, dividing their time between Lake Oswego, OR and Tucson, AZ.

He was a member of Willamette Valley Country Club and enjoyed many summers with his family in Gearhart, while playing in the Oregon Coast Invitational. Family was very important to Bob, and he enjoyed family vacations, including trips to the Oregon Coast, Central Oregon, Hawaii, Sun Valley and New York City. Bob also enjoyed oil painting, gardening, and international travel with his wife. Bob had a quick-wit and a hearty laugh, and his perfectly timed jokes and engaging stories regularly entertained his family and many friends.

Bob is survived by his wife and best-friend of thirty-four years, Melissa; daughter and son-in-law Holly and Bob Hestand of Portland, OR and their children Lauren, Jack and Calvin; son Colin Duffy of Seattle, WA; son and daughter-in-law William and Julie Duffy of Issaquah, WA; daughter and son-in-law Regan Duffy and Joel Sherman of Portland, OR; and two golden retrievers, Padraig and Riley. He is also survived by his identical twin cousins, Anne Warner of Ridgewood, NJ and Barbara Sullivan of Northridge, CA.

The family would like to thank the oncology department at Oregon Health & Science University for their compassion and support throughout Bob’s illness, specifically Dr. Tomasz Beer, Dr. Erik Fromme and the “Green Team”.

Bob will be deeply missed and remembered for his charm, his wit and the twinkle in his eye that delighted everyone who came into his life. There will be a celebration of life on what would have been his seventy-first birthday, October 10, 2010 at 3pm at Skyline Farm, 12735 NW Skyline Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97231.

In lieu of flowers, Bob preferred remembrances to the Oregon Humane Society or the Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU.