Patricia Ellerton Duffie

Patricia Ellerton Duffie, 84, died in Madison on Sunday March 21, 2010. She was born on December 29, 1925, in Albany, N.Y., to Guy Douglas Ellerton and Olive Davison Ellerton. She grew up in Albany, NY, Burlington, VT, and Rensselaer, NY.   Pat initially attended Syracuse University, NY, on a scholarship but transferred to Russell Sage College in Troy, NY, just down the hill from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy where John ""Jack"" Duffie attended college.   They had met on a blind date and were married in 1947, a union that was to last 57 happy and interesting years until Jack's death in 2005.   Pat graduated from Sage in 1948 with a degree in Chemistry.   During Jack's graduate school years and work for the U.S. Navy, they lived in Madison, Niagara Falls, and Chicago.   When their son Neil was born they were living in a tiny trailer at the old Monroe Park camp next to the UW-Madison football stadium.   When Jack returned to Madison for his PhD, he and Pat moved to University Houses.   Eventually Jack joined the UW faculty to found the Solar Energy Laboratory, and he and Pat built a home on Dorsett Dr. on Madison's west side.   As Jack's work in Solar Energy took him around the world and required considerable time for writing, teaching, research, and administrative work, Pat made his successful career possible.   She made the Lab's many foreign visitors feel welcome in this country and glad they had made the acquaintance of the Duffie household, which they often joined for dinner or holiday celebrations. Pat made sure the household stayed on an even keel and saw to the details of raising the kids while keeping up her own interests in sewing, art, music, languages, history, antique furniture, and reading.    She was enthusiastic about her children's various interests and projects, including many pets from hamsters to horses, and welcomed neighborhood kids to play at our house or skate on the backyard ice rink that Jack built.   Pat gave piano lessons to children, volunteered in the Rare Books department at the University Library, and taught Sunday School with Jack at the Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ.   An enduring achievement was authoring two books on family history and genealogy:   The Duffie Family of Edinburgh and New York, and The Duffie Family of Madison.   Through those we know our heritage.   Whenever possible Pat traveled the world with Jack.   They spent time living in Australia, England, and Sweden.   Pat visited her parents in New York and then Florida often, especially to care for them as they aged.   The Duffie family has had a cabin in Vilas County for 45 years; Pat and Jack made it a refuge and retreat for their growing family to gather and bond.   In 2002 Pat and Jack moved to Oakwood Village West to enjoy their last years with many friends, old and new.   Family and friends remember Pat as a gentle, kind, hospitable person with a warm heart and ready smile.   The family is grateful for the assistance of HospiceCare in the last weeks of Pat's life.   Pat is survived by her son Neil (Colleen) of Madison, their children, Meghan (Sung Won Kim), Patrick, and Laura; daughter Judy (Jim) Schwarzmeier of Eau Claire, WI, their sons James and Jay; and daughter Susan (Paul) Buse of North Potomac, MD, and their children Kristin and Michael; as well as one great-grandson, Kaden Duffie-Kim.   Pat is also survived by her sister Mary (Don) Clark of Florida and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.   A memorial service will be held on Saturday April 3, 2010, at 11 a.m. in the Resurrection Chapel at the OAKWOOD VILLAGE WEST retirement community in Madison, with a visitation a half hour before the service.   A private burial will be held in Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison.   Memorials may be sent to Boulder Junction Area Historical Society, PO Box 447, Boulder Junction, WI, 54512; HospiceCare Inc., 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway, Madison, WI 53711; or Oakwood Foundation, 6201 Mineral Point Road, Madison, WI 53705.