Duff, Bill. Lexington, Massachusetts. William (Bill) Kilgore Duff, 95, beloved husband of Shirley Cross Duff, passed away peacefully on June 9, 2023 of natural causes.
The son of William Percy Duff and Jane Kilgore Duff, Bill was born in New Jersey in 1928 then moved at the age of one with his family to Greenwich, Connecticut. He lived his entire life in Connecticut until 2011 when he and Shirley moved to Lexington, MA to be near their daughters. He is an alumnus of Greenwich schools as well as the honors college at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut where he earned his degree in History and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. History would remain a life-long interest. He served in the US Army from 1946 to 1948 where he was a part of the military governing forces in Osaka, Japan under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur.
He and Shirley married in 1953 and raised their family in Simsbury, Connecticut retiring later to their home on Mason’s Island in Mystic, Connecticut. Bill founded his own business, William K. Duff & Company, Inc., as a manufacturer’s rep of industrial products and, with the help of Shirley as secretary, became the first one man business to be incorporated in the state of Connecticut. While in Simsbury, Bill was involved with many civic organizations including a watershed protection group and St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. He was kind and generous and helpful, a dependable friend, responsible son, guardian to family members in need, loving husband and father.
Bill’s love of being on the sea began when he got his first boat at age 8 years. He proposed to his wife Shirley at the seashore. They spent their lives sailing aboard a Pearson 36 sloop and, later, a cruising boat and spent many happy summers in the New England waters with family & friends. In addition to sailing, he enjoyed traveling, volunteering for Meal On Wheels and serving as Commodore of the Masons Island Yacht Club. He was an ardent fan of both the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.
He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Shirley Cross Duff, his daughters Marcie Duff Troisi and husband Nicholas Troisi of Winchester, MA and Janet Duff McCue and her husband, David McCue of Cambridge, Massachusetts and his daughter in-law Sandra Raemsch Duff of Simsbury, Connecticut, along with seven grandchildren including Melissa Troisi of Medford, Massachusetts and Emma Troisi of Baltimore, Maryland, William McCue and his wife Janina of Waterbury, Vermont and Andrew McCue of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Alexandra Duff of Brooklyn, New York, Morgan Duff of Santa Monica, California and Tyler Duff of Simsbury, Connecticut. Bill was pre-deceased by his sister, Cynthia Duff Lyons and his son, Gordon Davidson Duff. A private family service will be held later this summer at Bill’s boyhood church, Christ Church, Greenwich in Greenwich, CT.