Thomas Andrew Duffield

Fortified with the Sacraments of the Holy Mother Church, Thomas passed away peacefully on March 14, 2016, with his family by his side.

Born March 18, 1925 in Muskegon, MI., Tom was one of 7 sons of Charles J. and Mary Margaret. He attended St. Mary’s of Redford High School and then enlisted into the Navy at 18. After O.C.S., Tom was commissioned as an LTJG. He was involved in the invasions of both Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He attended the University of Notre Dame and the University of Detroit, receiving his A.B. Law Degree in 1947 and his Juris Doctor degree in 1954.

In 1949, he married Grace Ann Schaefer of Grosse Pointe Park MI., settled into Grosse Pointe Farms and then the City of Grosse Pointe where they raised a family of 6 children: Lynn of Des Peres, MO, Thomas Jr. of Los Angeles, CA, Joan of St. Peters, MO who passed away in Nov. 2015 , Patrick (Suzannah Reid) of Aspen, CO, Daniel (Hong Juan) of Albuquerque, NM and Margaret (Walter Kempf) of Sunset Hills, MO. In Grosse Pointe, the Duffields were members of St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church and Tom was an active member of the Choir.

After college, he began his career with Sentry Insurance; in 1952 he became House Counsel for Darin & Armstrong – a large construction company in Detroit. In 1963 he was named Director of Corporate Insurance for the Ford Motor Co. Five years later, he moved to California to become Director of Corporate Insurance and Risk Management for the Northrop Corp. 1973 saw him moving on to Assistant Treasurer and Director of Risk Management of Foremost-McKesson Inc. In 1975, the family moved to Decatur, Il, where he became Corporate Vice President of Risk Management for Archer Daniels Midland Corp. He retired from ADM in 1995. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors for both the Lancers Insurance Co. and RIMS Risk Management Society.

In retirement, Tom was very active in the civic affairs of Decatur. For 10 years he served on the Board of Directors for Decatur Memorial Hospital and as a Director and Board member of the Decatur Day Care Center for 40 years. He was involved with the Advisory Board of the Decatur Salvation Army branch and the Society of St. Vincent DePaul both for 20 years. Tom was also President of The Decatur Club in 1985. He and Grace were members of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Decatur where he served as the first President of the Parish Church Council and a member of the choir for over 30 years.

Tom is survived by his wife Grace, 5 children, 7 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, and his brother Richard L Duffield.

His family wishes to thank the Staff of McKnight Place Extended Care for the excellent care and kindness they gave him.

A Memorial Mass will be held on June 4, 2016 at 11:00 am at the Catholic Student Center at Washington University in St. Louis. In lieu of flowers please send donations to The Decatur Daycare Center (2075 East Lake Shore Drive # 1, Decatur, IL 62521) or the Salvation Army Decatur Chapter (centralusa.salvationarmy.org/decatur).

We will always be thankful for all his efforts to make a better life for his family and for the role model he was for us to follow.

Rest in Peace, Dad, we’ll miss you.