Mary McDuffie

Mary Kay McDuffie, nee Unger, 76, went home to be with our Lord on December 9, 2011 at home surrounded by her family. Born October 17, 1935 in Detroit, to Jack and Katherine (McCutcheon) Unger, Mary Kay moved to Bellaire as a young child and graduated from Bellaire High School in 1954. She then attended Michigan State University. She left school to marry Edward R. McDuffie in February of 1958, at St. Luke's in Bellaire, but completed her degree in 1981 after 27 years of part time schooling while raising her family. She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Ed McDuffie and three children: Mike (Tina) McDuffie, Tom McDuffie, and Trina (Don) Brown, her brother Jack (Sharon) Unger, 7 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren. Mary Kay had a love of Michigan history, and over the years acquired a personal archive with over 1000 books about Michigan, glass plate negatives, photographs, articles, letters and interviews with old timers. She also collected family photos and documented family history dating back many generations. An avid writer, Mary Kay wrote the Bellaire Centennial History, articles for the Bellaire Spectator, Antrim County News, Torch Magazine and the Senior Newsletter. She authored three books; "The Courthouse", "Our First Fifty Years on the Point", and her masterpiece "Torch Lake, the History of Was-Wah-Go-Ning". She also wrote and presented an educational seminar on ALS for Munson Medical Center doctors and nurses. In addition to raising her own 3 children, Mary Kay influenced countless other children and adults and was always available to those in need of help and positive guidance. Her gentle influence profoundly affected all who knew her. Even in death, she continues to offer help to others by donating her brain to the Feinstein School of Medicine at Northwestern University. It is her hope that her donation will aid their search to find a cure for ALS, so that in the future others will not suffer from this debilitating disease. A funeral mass will be held at St. Luke Catholic Church in Bellaire on Monday, December 19, at 10 a.m. with Fr. James Gardiner officiating. A luncheon will follow in the community center at St. Luke's. Interment will be in Lakeview Cemetery, Bellaire. In lieu of flowers donation can be made to Antrim County Historical Society, Derenzy School Preservation, PO BOX 366, Central Lake, MI 49622 - Checks may be made to ACHS/Derenzy School. Arrangements have been handled by the Bellaire Chapel of Mortensen Funeral Homes. Please sign her online guestbook www.mortensenfuneralhomes.com