| Introduced By: Senators Cicilline, Kelly, Coderre, Parella and Irons |
| Date Introduced: February 26, 1997 |
| Referred To: Read and Passed |
WHEREAS, A devoted, concerned professional who dedicated many years to caring for the very ill as a hospice nurse with the Visiting Nurse Association of Rhode Island, Sheila A. Duffy was also a loving wife and mother, an effective social activist and an avid gardener. Her recent death is not only a great loss to her family, friends and former colleagues, but diminishes all of the citizens of Rhode Island who look to people of her calibre for leadership in the health care field; and
WHEREAS, Born in Pawtucket fifty-six years ago to Alice (Croasdale) Bardsley of Cumberland and the late Thomas R. Bardsley, Sheila A. Duffy was the wife of David A. Duffy, President of Duffy & Shanley, an advertising firm in Providence. The mother of Jennifer Erin Duffy of Washington, D.C., Johathan Duffy of Santa Monica, California, and Jeremy Duffy of Providence, Sheila was also the sister of Richard Bardsley of North Attleboro, Massachusetts; and
WHEREAS, A 1961 graduate of the New England Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in Boston, Sheila Duffy also earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Salve Regina University and a certificate in infection-control nursing from the United States Center of Communicable Diseases in Atlanta. She worked in several Rhode Island hospitals before becoming a visiting nurse in 1982; and
WHEREAS, In addition to her work in nursing, Sheila Duffy was a dedicated social activist. She served as a co-host of a day-long series of events promoting the preservation of Mount Hope Bay, and was a vital member of the Rhode Island Hospital Corporation, helping to elect its Board of Trustees. Sheila was also a past board member of the Wheeler School Parents Association; and
WHEREAS, Well aware that "A garden is a delight to the eye, and a solace to the soul that produces pleasure which is a foretaste of paradise," Sheila Duffy reaped many hours of joy by working in concert with Nature to bring forth beauty from the soil. An avid gardener, she completed the Master Gardener program at the University of Rhode Island, and was a member of its Master Gardener Association and several other garden and horticultural groups; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby offers its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the late Sheila A. Duffy. A gracious lady who devoted herself to relieving the pain and suffering of others, she lived a life replete with a level of meaning and compassion few of us can ever hope to approach. Sheila's life and achievements will certainly live on for many years in the loving memories of everyone fortunate enough to have been touched by her presence; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. David A. Duffy.
