Rick Duffy:
CLASS OF 1982
Darien High SchoolClass of 1982
Darien, CT
univ minnesotaClass of 1998
Minneapolis, MN
University of Connecticut - Liberal Arts & SciencesClass of 1986
Storrs, CT
Mather Junior High SchoolClass of 1979
Darien, CT
Tokeneke Elementary SchoolClass of 1976
Darien, CT
Rick's Story
Graduated from DHS in 82 and went promptly to UCONN, where the freedom and large classrooms proved too much for me and got sent home at the end of the year. Buckled down, went to Norwalk State Tech for a year and took classes at the Stamford Branch of UCONN. Worked with my father in his contracting business and also worked in the vault at Macy's and part time at the newly developed Darien Nature Center. Decided I did NOT want to spend the rest of my life doing my father's line of work (although I do enjoy working on my own house now) and really enjoyed working at the Nature Center. Returned to Uconn as a dual EE/CS major in Fall 84 and was doing well. The death of a close friend in Jan 85 put me into a tail spin and I considered leaving school. My grades suffered and I decided I wanted to change from EE/CS to an easier course of study: Biology (LOFL). I graduated with a BS in Biology and headed to the everglades for interesting outdoor work. While looking for jobs in FL, the Darien Nature Center Board of Directors tracked me down and pleaded with me to come take over as director at DNC while they searched for a permanent replacement. I agreed and started my first nature center repair. The board was pleased with my reestablishing our presence in the schools and setting up the first membership database with integrated newsletter (the CS training came in handy). Long story, short, I became the permanent replacement and stayed as the Director/Naturalist for 3 years. I loved this job as I love the town of Darien, it's schools and its natural areas in which I had grown up and reveled in. Change in Board and policies caused me to leave and I did some computer consulting and worked for a brokerage firm.
The Director of the New Canaan Nature Center didn't want me to leave the field and hired me as Curator for the New Canaan Nature Center which I enjoyed until the grant which funded that position ended. Said Director was instrumental in steering me toward my next job as the Director of the Wethersfield Nature Center which I toiled away at (but enjoyed) until 1993. I could have stayed in Wethersfield as I loved the town, the outdoor areas and the true colonial feel. I enjoyed being a member of the Village Improvement Association and the Great Meadows Conservation Trust and living in the attic of the 7th generation family owned farm on the shore of Wetherfield Cove. But during this...Expand for more
time, I met Monique and my focus changed to love relationship, family, etc.
I moved to Minneapolis to be with her and we started our family while there. I also became the first and only Scout Master for our church, Eckankar, which has it's main Temple in Chanhassen MN. I also serve as the Naturalist at the Temple during seminars and enjoy answering people's questions about the plants and animals on the grounds and teaching a little bit of interesting Natural History.
I became a Scuba Instructor and led a Scout Venture Crew where scuba diving was the focus. I was not so enamored of the Twin Cities area of Minnesota where we lived, and while I found Itasca State park, the boundary waters and the areas north of Lake Superior absoulutely fantastic, I missed the hills and dales of New England and the Hudson River. With a great deal of arm twisting I convinced Monique to move back to the Northeast with me and we live on a lovely plot of land in Yorktown, NY.
I am now in grad school, pursuing CS once again, but I volunteer at a local nature preserve: Teatown. My focus is our kids, as I have been a stay home dad for a little over 10 years now. I enjoy teaching them about the natural world in our small private nature area: our property. It is surrounded on 4 sides by water, and as a result the amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals as well as all form of plant, lichen and fungal life thrives (Slimy, Mudhole, my home this is......) Lots of work to keep it from turning into the wet outdoors that it is trying to be, but I love it and so does the rest of the family.
I have fond memories from my life as far back as I can remember, which for me is about 3 years old. I try as best I can to give my kids better experiences than I had while passing along some of the wisdom gained from all the past experiences I had whether I feel the experiences were bad or good. I'd love to hear from old friends or aquaintances, I am proud to be friends with several people I have known since 2nd grade and a few more from as far back as High School. If you've read this far and would like to contact me, use my email which is r-i-c-k-d-u-f-f-y-f-a-m-i-l-y- at- o-p-t-o-n-l-i-n-e-dot-n-e-t '
that's all letters with no dashes just trying to stay out of the web crawler spam files. The picture on my profile was taken by my wife and is of me and my 3 children in November 2008 along the Hudson River.
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
Register for Free to start a reunion event!
Photos