Obituaries: Francis Powell (Duff) Wright
January 06, 2012
Francis Powell (Duff) Wright of Pittsford, NY passed away Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at age 91. Formerly of Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY, Duff is survived by his son, Jeffrey Wright (Betty Wells), of Pittsford; his daughter, Martha Wright Purdy, of New Windsor; his grandchildren: Laurel Wright, Powell Wright, Elizabeth Purdy McShea and her husband, Brendan, Frank Purdy, Jr., and his wife, Heidi, and five great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife of 65 years, Dorothy (Rice) Wright, and by nine brothers and sisters.
Duff was born on June 10, 1920 in his family's farmhouse in Gardiner, Ulster County, New York, tenth child of Charles Baker Wright and Elizabeth LeFevre (Powell) Wright. His parents were married on Christmas Day, 1895, and Duff was the last surviving member of his generation. He proudly traced his ancestry to Simon LeFevre and Christian Deyo, two of the original New Paltz Huguenot patentees.
He graduated from the State Teachers College at New Paltz in 1942 and taught social studies and was a guidance counselor at New York Military Academy in Cornwall, New York, from 1942 to 1954, where he was also an active member of the Jerusalem Temple Masonic Lodge. He then moved to Warsaw, New York, where he became a sales representative and later a supervisor for Ginn and Company educational publishers, which merged into Xerox Corporation in 1967. Duff and Dorothy returned to Cornwall in 1969, and moved to The Highlands at Pittsford in 2005.
Duff was a member of the Cornwall United Methodist Church and the United Church of Pittsford. He will be fondly remembered for always having a story to tell, or a joke to share.
A Memorial Service will be held in Cornwall, New York at a later date.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Anthony Funeral & Cremation Chapels, 2305 Monroe Ave., Rochester, NY 14618. 585-244-0770.
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