Kathleen Ann Gogarty Duffy

Kathleen Ann (nee Gogarty) Duffy, born October 17, 19- "if I told you, I'd have to kill you," died August 27, 2024, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Kathleen was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Philip and Rose (nee Kiernan) Gogarty, and attended St. Michael's High School. She met her high school sweetheart and eventual husband, Leo P. Duffy, at the corner drug store where all the kids hung out. 

After graduation, she went to work for Bell Telephone in New York City. Upon Leo's graduation from NYU, they were married at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church on Dec. 27, 1952, and spent their honeymoon driving to Norco, Louisiana, for Leo's first job. This would be the first of many job-related moves the family would make. Sons James and Michael were born in Louisiana.

The Duffys moved back north in 1955 to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, living there for 12 years and adding four more children to the family - Eileen, John, Maryann and Maureen. 

Kathleen was a loving wife and mother, with exceptional strength and courage raising six children far from close family, losing her mother at an early age, and with a husband who traveled. She forged enduring friendships in every city they lived, many lasting her entire life. She was kind and welcoming to every single person she encountered.

Reserved and quiet, she had a cultivated and sometimes wicked sense of humor, which she has generously shared with her children, along with her beautiful smile.

A city girl, Kathleen made great adjustments with the next family move to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where she lived for almost five years. When Leo asked if she could help recruit employees to move there, the most truthful statement she could come up with was, "If you like the outdoors, you'll like it here."

The next five years were spent just outside Washington, D.C., in Annandale, Virginia, before moving back to Idaho Falls for five years, then back to the Pittsburgh area for seven more years. She and Leo finally settled in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1987 where they lived for 33 years. 

Kathleen was an avid reader – a fan of Patricia Cornwell, Lisa Scottoline, Maeve Binchy and Erma Bombeck, among others. She loved flowers, but not gardening, and her favorite was pink roses. 

She traveled the world with Leo, and visited her 20 grandchildren from Alaska to Nebraska to Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida. She was a proud volunteer at West Chester Hospital well into her 80s.

In addition to her husband of 72 years, Leo, she is survived by six children -- James, Michael (Catie Miller), Eileen (Mark Davis), John, Maryann (John Almand) and Maureen (Greg Zimmerman); 20 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, her older sister Margaret, her younger brother Phil, and a grandchild, Nadia. 

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 at 11:00 am in St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 410 E. Simpson Street, Mechanicsburg, with Rev. Kenneth Roth, Parochial Vicar, Celebrant.  Burial will be in Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City, NJ at the convenience of the family.  A viewing will be held on Wednesday from 10:00 am - 11:00 am in the church.  Arrangements by Wiedeman Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Inc., Oberlin.