Retired Elgin Community College board member, Larkin High teacher John Duffy dies at 91

Funeral services will be held this week for longtime Larkin High School teacher and Elgin Community College board member John Duffy, who died on Christmas Eve at the age of 91.

The Iowa native was part of the original faculty when Larkin opened in Elgin in 1962 and he retired in 1996.

Duffy’s passion for education and the public’s trust led him to serve for 48 years as an elected board member of ECC from 1975 to 2023.

In April 2024, his six decades of service to the community at large led to the proclamation by the mayor of John Duffy Day in the city of Elgin.

He’s survived by his wife, Anne, to whom he was married for 67 years.

She joked the secret to a long marriage is to be nicer to your spouse than anyone else in the world, even on those occasions when you don’t want to.

Learning that early and having a common background in farming families made their partnership harmonious, Anne Duffy said.

Though agriculture was his heritage, it was never going to be John’s future, she added.

“He wanted to see the world,” she said. “John could never have stayed on the farm.”

Though an introvert by nature, he used that trait not to think about himself but ponder how others’ lives might be bettered, she said.

That was the root of his interest in education.

“He had a zest for life,” Anne Duffy said. “Life was to live, and he did it to the best of his ability.”

His approach to decisions big and small during his five decades on the ECC board was to be especially methodical about all of them.

“His slogan was, there’s only one way to do things — the right way,” Anne Duffy said.

That sense also was behind his many decisions to seek reelection, and then finally to step away due to his age, she added.

ECC President Peggy Heinrich addressed John’s passing in a statement.

“Mr. Duffy dedicated an extraordinary 48 years of service to ECC, making him the longest-serving community college trustee in the state of Illinois,” she said. “During his nearly five decades on the board, Mr. Duffy helped shape nearly every chapter of ECC’s history. He played a key role in the hiring of six of the college’s eight presidents, helped establish the ECC Foundation, and served the board in many leadership capacities, including chair, vice chair, secretary, and committee leadership roles.”

After stepping down from the college’s board, John joined the ECC Foundation Board and served until his death. In 2008, the road connecting College Green Drive to Spartan Drive was named Duffy Drive to honor his impact.

The college’s flags will be flown at half-staff in recognition of his life and service, Heinrich said.

In addition to Anne, John is survived by their five children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, mourners are asked to make a donation to the Elgin Community College Foundation Scholarship and specify the John and Anne Duffy Scholarship Fund.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16 at Laird Funeral Home, 310 S. State St. in Elgin.

Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 at St. Laurence Catholic Church, 225 Jewett St. in Elgin.

A livestream of the funeral will be available at Facebook.com/St.LaurenceChurch and at Youtube.com/@StLaurenceElgin.

For more information, call (847) 741-8800 or visit lairdfamilyfuneralservices.com.