It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of John Michael Duffy, who departed this life on October 17, 2025, at age 85. He was born in Virginia at the Norfolk Naval Station on September 9, 1940, to his mother, Elizabeth Anne Nawrocki Duffy (“Betty”) and his father Edward Joseph Duffy (“Eddie”), who served in the U.S. Navy.
To know John was to know someone who absolutely loved swimming and diving in the ocean, which had a great deal to do with his becoming a marine biologist for the State of California’s Fish and Game Department for 37 years. Over the years, he made over 5,000 dives. That all started with a pair of swim fins given to him by his older brother Edward James (“Jim”), who had no interest in using them.
John also enjoyed playing racquetball and loved playing with words – puns, reading, crosswords, etc. – and a good deal of wit and wisdom emanated from his use of them. When asked how he was, he generally would answer, “Today I choose to be blessed and grateful,” which often led to a positive conversation. In recent years, John has enjoyed metal detecting (and returning any found items to their owner, when possible), golfing with his SIR Branch 112 friends, and being a member of Unity of Davis and its Board of Trustees.
John was preceded in death by his mother, father, brother, and first wife, Josephine Ann Duffy. He is survived by his second wife Joyce Evelyn Duffy (“Joy”), his two sons, Michael Edward (“Bobbie”) and Patrick Charles, and his stepson Thomas (“Tom”) Alan LeFevre (“Tiffany”). John is also the grandfather of Keely and Jacob Duffy, Rebecca and Shawn Karnes, and Kate LeFevre, as well as the “Best Pal” of Lucky, the Wonder Dog (as John often called him).
A Celebration of Life Service will be held in John’s honor on Zoom on Saturday, November 15, at 2:00 p.m. If you are a friend of John’s or his family, you are invited to register by clicking the button below in order to get the Zoom details. In lieu of flowers, please feel free to send a donation to Unity of Davis or the Parkinson Association of Northern California.