Thomas Stanley Duda

Thomas Stanley Duda, age 80, died on Thursday, December 22, 2022, at UPMC Hamot Hospital. He was born in Erie on December 17, 1942, the son of the late Stanley and Helen (Kaschak) Duda.
Tom ("Sparky") was employed by the former Kaiser Aluminum, and subsequently, Accuride Erie, for over 40 years prior to his retirement. He had a larger-than-life love for the outdoors and his family. He was a dedicated Dad to not only his own kids, but also the neighbor kids by coaching baseball and softball through the years.
Hunting, fishing, and making sausage were his full-time joys! If you had the pleasure of eating his smoked meat and fish, you'd know he was the best at it. He could build a smoker out of anything and loved trading items for fish. Whether it was fishing with family and friends at Lake Simcoe or cleaning a million fish, he was at his happiest! Tom's rare pastime was trapping turtles and making turtle soup for his friends. He loved life and everyone around him. Whether you were his family or work family, you mattered.
One of Tom's favorite things to do was driving the train at the Zoo so he could see all the kids and feed the animals. He also enjoyed operating the Zamboni at the ice arena so he could watch the kids play hockey. Tom loved making wooden crafts, building his model train village, and making walleye lures for Lake Erie fishing. He was an avid "collector" and loved going to garage sales and flea markets with his best friends and family. He was a member of the SONS of Lake Erie, Gem City Gun Club, Ripley Rod and Gun Club, and the Lawrence Park Fishing Club. Club.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 22 years, Linda A. (Jones) Duda, who died on September 29, 2022.
Tom is survived by his children: Brenda Hall (Doug) of Buffalo, NY, Greg Duda (Paula) of North East, Terry Triana (Barb) of Lawrence Park Twp., and Shawn Triana (Tiffany) of Arizona; six grandchildren: Jeffery, Donovan, Maya, Kyle, Ryan, and Megan; one brother-in-law, Larry Jones of Arizona; and one sister-in-law, Sally Dyer Shea (Patrick) of Harborcreek.
Private funeral arrangements were entrusted to the care of the Dusckas-Taylor Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Harborcreek Twp.
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