Longtime Oakhurst resident Duffy Lee died on January 16, after struggling the last couple of years with cancer. She was 87. Duffy was an extremely active member of both the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association and the Oakhurst Citizens on Patrol. She had lived in Oakhurst since the 1950s, on Morning Glory Avenue, where she served as a street representative for many years.

Duffy also served for many years as chairman of ONA’s Welcoming Committee. It was her delight to bake a pie, cookies, or cake and deliver them to new residents soon after they moved into Oakhurst. She was a fixture at neighborhood monthly meetings and twice-annual general membership meetings, where she was responsible for setting up refreshments for the “socials.” She always brought seasonal decorations (Easter rabbits for spring; Halloween motif items for fall) for these events. She made the ice cream punch and a lot of goodies, and she set it all up for the neighbors to enjoy, along with the food contributions of other neighbors.

Duffy believed that everyone in Oakhurst should participate in the neighborhood association. She often made it a point to encourage younger members to become involved. She also believed that one hour was long enough for a meeting, as she was often the member who made the motion to adjourn the meeting when she thought the meeting was running long. Above all, she participated in everything the association did. She thought that was what residents were supposed to do.

No one took more delight than Duffy in the 2007 Neighborhoods USA 1st Place Award for Community Collaboration given to ONA and the Oakhurst Citizens on Patrol for the annual Police and Firefighters Appreciation Dinner. She was—for so long—a part of the event that Oakhurst residents, as well as police and firefighters, looked forward to her desserts at the fall event...especially her buttermilk pie.

She was the epitome of service to her neighbors—those who lived with her on Morning Glory and those who lived elsewhere in the neighborhood. She came from the Wallis family in Weatherford and had eleven brothers and sisters. According to the minister at her funeral, the “Wallis women” were known for being strong and determined.

He told the story of Duffy at Luby’s Cafeteria, where she worked for a time serving coffee and tea to customers. One day, a Luby’s executive from the corporate office was observing operations at the Loop 820 cafeteria. At one point, he saw Duffy pour a pot of coffee down a sink. He brought this to her attention, thinking he had spotted a way to save money. Pour less coffee down the drain—save money. Duffy, in her inimitable way, replied to the executive that she had drained the coffee pot because the coffee was stale. “I will NOT serve stale coffee to my customers,” she told him, and if that was a problem for him, then she could find her way elsewhere. That ended that discussion and underscored Duffy’s commitment to excellence in food service. She remained at Luby’s.

The congregation at Duffy’s funeral was full of people who had known her in all her service capacities—as a longtime owner of a beauty salon in Riverside, as a COPs member, as a neighbor, and as an ONA leader. Fort Worth Police Chief Jeff Halstead attended her service, as did many police officers and other representatives of the FWPD. At least four rows of Citizens on Patrol members from Oakhurst and other groups were present. “Duffy was always there,” said one. “She was faithful and always dependable. She WAS Oakhurst.”

See Duffy's obituary below, along with several other Oakhurst neighbors that we remember this month.