Family and friends helped Alan Duffy celebrate his 80th birthday with a surprise drive-by salute at his new home in Norwood on Sun., June 7. The long-time Dorchester resident and his wife Camilla moved over the winter to their new home to be closer to their family. Mayor Marty Walsh helped to celebrate by declaring June 7 “Alan Duffy Day” in the city of Boston.

The mini-parade took place on Dorchester Day 2020, a date that was always an important one for the Duffys. Each year for several decades Alan and Camilla hosted an open house at their Samoset Street home, an event that began just after the parade passed and continued well into the evening. It became a can’t-miss tradition, with post- parade visits from most local politicians and candidates, all mingling with dozens of the Duffys’ friends and neighbors.

The Duffy family settled into their Saint Mark’s area home when they bought it in the early 1980s. He became a friend with us at the Reporter early on in our business years in the mid-‘80s, when he visited our newsroom with some photos that he made as he took up a new hobby with a camera. He became an accomplished photographer and many “Photos by Alan Duffy” have graced our pages over the years.  

Alan was also a constable for the city of Boston and a commodore of the Port Norfolk Yacht Club, where he continues to make regular visits to the old neighborhood to maintain and sail his boat.

As he celebrated his birthday, Alan also proudly told the group that he was “40 years sober.” Later, he told me it was longer ago than that: “It was 10:30 in the morning,” he said. “December 28, 1974.”