Thomas Francis Duffy

Born July 11, 1938 and died Jan. 27 of
complications from influenza.

Thomas Francis Duffy was born at
home in Mullan, Idaho. He was the youngest of five
children. His father was a Hard Rock miner at the
Morning Mine. Two years after his birth, his mother
died in child birth. His father Bernard lacked the resources
to care for his children and the family was
broken apart. They were tough times at the tail end
of the Great Depression, and Tom and his brother
Pat were placed in Saint Joseph’s Orphans Home in
Helena, Mont., when he was 4. The orphanage was
not a nurturing place for a young child. He was everlastingly
grateful to his sister Catherine who rescued
him from the orphanage when he was 9. She was recently
married and visited Tom at the orphanage and
couldn’t bear to leave him there.

The next years of his life were some of his most fondly
remembered, living with Catherine’s family in Seattle
and later in Anchorage. When Catherine’s marriage
later broke up, he was sent to live with his Uncle
Al and Aunt Jen in East Helena. It was a great experience
to be reunited with his brother Jim on the ranch.

His experiences on the ranch gave him a lifelong love
of physical labor and hard work. In the last year of
high school, he moved from the ranch to live with his
brother Dick and his wife Mary Ann in Helena.
The next years were filled with hard work and studying
as he paid his own way through school at Carrol
College. He was forever grateful for the education
he received from the Jesuits. At school, he met the
love of his life, Yvonne Gauthier from Williston, N.D.
Tom and Yvonne loved to go to dances and Jitterbug.
They were married on Tom’s birthday in 1959.

Following graduation from Carrol, Tom enrolled at
Georgetown University, where he received a master’s
degree in American history. Subsequently he got a
job at the CIA working initially as a document clerk
and later becoming an analyst in the Africa Division.
He worked on the editorial staff producing the CIA’s
Presidential Daily Briefing. He was the chief of the
Africa Division and ultimately the special assistant
to Robert Gates, who was then the deputy director
for intelligence for the CIA. Upon leaving, he was
awarded the Career Intelligence medal. Though he
enjoyed a rewarding career, he retired early to return
to Montana.

Tom and Yvonne came to the Flathead Valley to work
in a joint ranching venture with Yvonne’s sister Patty
and husband Harold Hughes. In Polson, he found
great pleasure working alongside his wife Yvonne and
ranching, having returned to his roots in farming.
His son Andy and wife Julie joined him in Polson and
worked the ranch raising purebred Red Angus bulls
until his retirement around age 65.

He and Yvonne moved to Walla Walla to be closer
to grandchildren and settled and built a home next
door to his oldest son Sean and wife Mary Ann. No
husband and wife enjoyed retirement more than Tom
and Yvonne. They were inseparable, traveling to the
coffee shop or YMCA. Their greatest adventures
were travels to Spain, where they made multiple trips
along the pilgrim trail (Camino) to Santiago de Campostela.
They formed lasting friendships with many
of the pilgrims they met along the trail.

He was preceded in death by his father, Bernard; and
mother, Mary Hrella. Tom is survived by his loving
wife, Yvonne; his brothers, Dick and Jim. His sister
Catherine and brother Pat, preceded him in death.

He is survived by his children, Sean and wife Mary
Ann, their children Tim, Maeve, Liam, Seamus; Tim
Duffy and wife Karen, their children Caitlin and Ian;
Andy Duffy and wife Julie, their children Bronwyn
and Chloe; and daughter Graycen and husband Rob
Snow, their children Addie and Sal. His daughter,
Michelle, for whom he had an especial affection preceded
him in death. He is also survived by nephews,
nieces, cousins and friends too numerous to count.
Tom had a big heart and was loved by many. He was
the greatest man I have known and will be sorely
missed. Tom never missed a chance to light a candle
when he visited a church and you may remember
him by lighting a candle in his memory.