I have just read that Rapid City lawyer and native of Ft. Pierre has died.
For many, Pat is known as a partisan Democrat and an aggressive attorney. I know him as a high school basketball player (least talented player in his family but better than most), a member of a close-knit clan, and a man of faith and reflection. To say I knew him well by many interaction would be inaccurate. I knew him well because he did his best to live the values instilled in him by his family and his Faith.
As you know, I have written many pieces when people die and often with regret I didn’t say something to them before they die. I don’t have that regret with Pat. He is a Duffy. He said what was on his mind. He expected the same. He gave respect to others even if they didn’t give it back.
Pat, the world has been made better because you were in it. Forgive me for not being able to give you a more expansive eulogy but I have a golf tourney and tee off shortly. As an Irishman, you understand. 🙂
By the Mercy of God, may you Rest in Peace.
To know Pat Duffy, was to have a strong opinion about him. Pat was a long-time friend and nemisis of mine. Since I read of his death yesterday I’ve had two long conversations with friends that were also very close to Pat. Both agreed with this description: “he was the biggest sob you ever loved”.
Nobody in public life ever said as many nasty things about me concerning public office, as Pat Duffy, and he’s been a friend of mine dating back to 1980. I remember calling Pat when he was beating me up in the news and telling him that he knew me and knew what he was saying wasn’t true. He didn’t care, I was a Republican and the enemy.
Now, the rest of the story. Pat used to be a conservative Republican. He comes from a conservative Irish Catholic Democrat family that, while always proud of its Dick Kniep and John Kennedy roots, struggled with some modern Democrat litmus tests. In 1980 Pat Duffy was a Republican. He was loud and proud for Ronald Reagan and Jim Abdnor, as he helped us with our campaign in Brookings County. When I needed a staff person in the Brookings office, he recommended his wife. When a CBS reporter was covering the race and I thought he seemed bias against us, Pat got the guy so drunk that the reporter missed his plane – and Pat spent hours (and many beers) trying to win him over (it was Phil Jones).
There is no South Dakota family more South Dakotan than the Bernie and Margaret Duffy family of Ft Pierre, and the accomplished lives of their children are a testimony to all the best you can say about our state and the people that live here. In that diverse group of accomplished kids, the former Naval Acadmey plebe Pat Duffy stands out – and remains a person, that if you knew him well, was the best sob you ever loved. RIP Pat Duffy
It is true, Mr. Schoenbeck …. you are a Republican and you are the enemy. lol
shut up this time please.
Sad and shocking. I’m glad our lives overlapped a little bit in the last few years. Last time he was in Sioux Falls he stopped by to visit and we covered all the bases of our common interests: state politics, the Church, the Sermon on the Mount, repealing the death penalty, predatory lending and capping interest rates and Native Americans and race relations in South Dakota.
RIP Pat.
If I can figure out how, I want to grab the audio of him testifying for us last year on the death penalty repeal. We gave him 3-5 minutes. He took much more which meant our other testifiers didn’t get to speak. It was frustrating for us but now it’s funny to me. It was vintage Duffy. Here is that audio if you want to go to it yourself.
My plan is to title this audio clip:
Swimming Laps in Pool of Pig Shit: Pat Duffy on the Death Penalty in South Dakota.
http://sdpb.sd.gov/SDPBPodcast/2014/hst24.mp3
His testimony starts at 31:31
It’s worth your time.
Ave atque vale, Pat.
a lot of people know they got the benefit of his expertise and abilities. he will be missed.