Platte Clove, NY — Robert F. Duffy, born July 18th, 1948, died at home from cancer on April 29, 2021 in Shady, New York. He is survived by his son, Schuyler Duffy and by his partner of over 27 years, Christine Wade.
Robert was born in Manhattan and sang as a soprano soloist in churches until the age of twelve. He attended Columbia University where he studied English Literature and where he learned to love poetry. When he was drafted upon graduation he became a conscientious objector to the Viet Nam War and performed community service at an experimental school in Newark, New Jersey. He worked for the Department of City Planning and for the City of New York municipal computing agency for over 17 years as a systems programmer. He earned a Master’s Degree in Structural Linguistics from New York University.
Following a trip to China in 1987 he studied Traditional Chinese Medicine at Tri-State College of Acupuncture in the early 1990’s earning a Master’s degree and license to practice under New York’s newly minted licensing of the profession. He also studied Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine at the Pacific College of Health and Science and Cranio-sacral Therapy at the Upledger Institute. He was a gifted and generous healer and a steadfast practitioner of Tai Ji and meditation.
Robert also worked with a medical informatics research group at Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons and was the lead author of an important paper on the discovery of anti-cancer drugs from plants.
Robert owned a house in Platte Clove and lived in Shady and Kingston, New York after he retired. He was a loving and devoted father who read all the children’s classics assiduously to his son every night until he was a teenager and attended all the soccer and baseball matches as well. He had a quiet kind nature and a great sense of humor. He will be greatly missed.
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