Lloyd T. Duff

1924 - 2016

Lloyd T. Duff, 92, passed away peacefully at home in Mansfield Center on November 3, 2016, embraced in the love of family and close friends. He was born on May 7, 1924, the son of the late Edward E. and Alice (Towle) Duff, of Lakewood, OH. He shared 65 blissful years of marriage with Gwen M. Duff, who predeceased him in 2013. Lloyd was an alumnus of Lakewood High School in Lakewood, OH, where he is a member of the Athletic Hall of Fame. He then attended Oberlin College where he lettered in football, basketball and track in his freshman year. His education was interrupted in 1943, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served with the Field Artillery 98th Division in the Pacific Theatre for the remaining years of WWII. After discharge as a 1st Sergeant, he resumed his education, entering The Ohio State University. At Ohio State, he focused on the track team, excelling in the hurdle events, broad jump and pole vault. The highlights of his Ohio State athletic career included: high point scorer for all three years; scored 16 points in the 1947 Big 10 Conference Indoor Championship; Captain of the 1948 squad; All-American status in track and field; and runner-up in the U.S. Decathlon Championships of 1946 and '47. His track career ended abruptly due to an injury just before the 1948 Olympic trials for which he was a favorite to represent the U.S. in the decathlon. He was enshrined in the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. During the 1948 season, he married his high school sweetheart, Gwen Moore. After graduation, he began his collegiate coaching career at the University of Pittsburgh. He was assistant track coach for six years at Pitt while also earning a master's degree in education. In 1954 he and Gwen moved the family to Storrs when Lloyd was appointed head coach of UCONN's varsity track and cross country teams. In 1967, he became head of the newly formed Recreation Department where he expanded intramural activities and the use of athletic facilities for students and faculty. During this time, as a member of the University Senate he initiated a resolution that resulted in University President Homer Babbidge leading a group of thirty college presidents in a meeting with President Richard Nixon to express their concern about the war in Vietnam. In 1977, he became director of the Emergency Medical Services Training Center, and also served as UCONN's golf coach for three years. He retired from UCONN in 1979 to devote full-time energy to Holiday Hill Day Camp and Recreation Center in Mansfield. A life-long summer camper, Lloyd had served in positions at a number of camps, including as a village director at YMCA Camp Hazen and the camp manager at Silver Lake Conference Center. In 1960 he and Gwen fulfilled their dream by establishing Holiday Hill Day Camp and building it into what is now the region's oldest and largest summer day camp serving families from all over eastern Connecticut and beyond. Lloyd took pleasure in quietly contributing through community service. He organized the Mansfield Christmas Fund (now the Mansfield Holiday Fund) in 1969 which has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to needy families. He spearheaded many fund-raising efforts as a long-time member of the Mansfield Lions Club. He worked extensively with the American Red Cross, including being an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) instructor, and participated in the National Ski Patrol, achieving a National rating. Lloyd had a lifelong passion for the game of golf and was a long-time member of the Willimantic Country Club. Lloyd is survived by his three children: Lynn and husband Mark Leu of Prescott, AZ; Robert and wife Jill of East Greenwich, RI; and Wendy and husband Dudley Hamlin of Mansfield Center; as well as his cherished grandchildren: Jamie Keehan; Laura and Graham Duff; and Spencer, Haley and Hunter Hamlin; sisters-in-law, Martha Austin of Tiffin, OH, and Shirley Duff of Cincinnati, OH; and six nephews and a niece. He was predeceased by his sister, Janet Murphy of Fort Worth, TX, and brother E. Roy Duff of Cincinnati, OH. A memorial service is planned for December 4, 2016, at 2:30 PM, at the Storrs Congregational Church, 2 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT. Memorial contributions can be made to the American Camp Association's Gwen and Lloyd Duff Campership Fund, to Windham Area Interfaith Ministries or to UCONN Opera. For an online memorial guestbook and/or details on how to make a memorial contribution, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com