Obituaries

Former Manayunk Resident Mary Regina Birkmire Duffy Died at 82

She was a St. Mary of the Assumption parishioner.

Mary Regina Birkmire Duffy, 82, died Tuesday, March 27, 2012, at her daughter’s home in Cambridge, NY. She was the widow of Thomas J. Duffy, who died in 2007.

Born February 15, 1930, in Manayunk, PA, Jeanne was the daughter of the late Thomas Joseph and Regina Marie (Kuhn) Birkmire. She graduated from Ravenhill Academy, Germantown, PA, Class of 1948. She and her beloved husband were married on July 18, 1953, at in Manayunk.

Jeanne chose to be a homemaker and stay-at-home mom, which had unusual challenges since her husband’s work with the United States government involved world travel. The family lived in Manayunk, Bethesda and Rockville, Maryland, Taipei, Taiwan, the Canal Zone, and Port Charlotte, Florida.

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While living in Port Charlotte, she was the Assistant Condominium Manager at the Charlotte Square Condominium Association, retiring in 1996.

After her husband’s death, she moved to the Danforth Adult Care Center in Hoosick Falls, NY, to be near family. For several months she lived with her daughter’s family in Cambridge.

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Jeanne loved to travel and did so extensively throughout the United States, the Far East, Asia, Latin and South America. Shopping was her favorite “hobby,” and she enjoyed photography, solving crossword puzzles, genealogy, calligraphy, and decorating cakes. She was famous for her "shrimp dip."

She is survived by four children, Martin Duffy, and wife Simone, of Houston, TX, Andrew Duffy, of Princeton, NJ, Regina Carson, and husband Ray, of Pittsburgh, PA, and Carolynn Presser, and husband David, of Cambridge, NY; seven beloved grandchildren, Sara, Hunter, Matthew, Liam, Lauren, Roisin, and Rachel; three siblings, Claire B. Dickson, Thomas J. Birkmire, Sr., and JoAnn B. Marshall; three sisters-in-law, Veronica D. Bellis, Mary T. Duffy, and Joan Crane, and dozens of treasured nieces and nephews, and their families.

Jeanne is predeceased by the following family: Veronica E. (Davies) Duffy, Mary V. (Duffy) and James B McCaffrey; Helen B. (Duffy) Makem Johnson; Mahlon Makem; Catherine T. (Duffy) and Thomas J. McAllister, Margaret M. (Duffy) and James P. Dunn, Eugene C. Duffy; Maurice J. Duffy; John Bellis; Margaret (Swartz) Birkmire; Samuel J. Marshall; and Herbert E. Dickson.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary of the Assumption, Manayunk, PA, on a date to be announced.

For those wishing to remember Jeanne in a special way, the family suggests donations be made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital (www.stjude.org); Maryknoll Lay Missioners (www.maryknolllaymissioners.org); the Dementia Care Foundation (www.dementiacarefoundation.org) or the Consumer Reports Foundation (www.consumerreports.org) .

Please visit www.ackleyrossfuneralhome.com to share a memory or send a condolence.


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