Vale- Colleen Duffy
It is with great sadness that Dungog District Chamber of Commerce learned over the weekend of the passing of our long-time committee member, collelague and very close friend Colleen Duffy from Clarance Town.
Not only an instrinsic part of the chamber committee, our wonderful and inspiring Colleen was held in high regards by all who had the pleasure of knowing and working with her. Her many volunteer roles included Executive Committee of the Clarence Town Progess Association and President of the Clarence Town School of Arts Hall committee. Colleen was also pivotal in the establishment of Boomerang Bags, Clarence Town.
Colleen’s effort, time and dedication in all these roles is immeasureable, but together with her husband Michael, her love and care of Clarence Town School Arts Hall will always be truly inspirational in my mind. Colleen, Michael and her committee worked tirelessly to bring the School of Arts Hall to life, improving the facilities and making it a focus of community life in the town. Improvements and develpment of the hall were only due to the commitment of Colleen and the volunteer committee with grant applications and fundraisers.
A very typical example of Colleen’s work is recent highly successful and sold out Small Halls Festival event held at the Clarence Town School of Arts on January 30. Colleen worked with the organisers of the Small Halls Festival to bring the event to Clarence Town, and to work out the actual logistics of staging the event including organising local entertainers to take part in the concert. She also worked with a team of local volunteers to provide refreshments, decorate the hall and take photgraphs of the event.
Colleens’s firm hand and straight talking manner, together with her compassionate and sensible approach, established her as a respected community leader and strong advocate for the town of Clarence Town, which she loved so much. Colleen was also passionate about maintaining the connection between the towns of Clarence Town and Dungog. Her representation for Clarence Town businesses and organisations Shire wide and further afield also did not go unnoticed.
In 2017 Colleen received the Dungog District Chamber of Commerce Volunteer Award.
Our wonderful, beautiful, intelligent and sassy Colleen Duffy: we are going to miss you. You were truly a role model for us all.
Our deepest sympathies to her husband Michael: and her family and friends.
Jennifer Lewis
President- Dungog District Chamber of Commerce
