Kevin Brian Duffy

Kevin Brian Duffy, 62, a longtime Niles, Ohio, resident and business owner, passed away Sunday, June 28, 2020, after an illness.
Kevin was born April 10, 1958, at Northside Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, to William W. and E. Marlene (Cole) Duffy, both of whom preceded him in death.
He is survived by his wife, Jeanne, whom he met in July 1993, and whom he knew “right away” he would marry. The couple married Aug. 14, 1999. Kevin also is survived by three children from a previous marriage: his son Aaron, of Bessemer, Pa.; his daughter Brooke Fowler (Jeffrey), of Bessemer, Pa.; and his son Joshua of Austintown, Ohio. His grandchildren are Luke, Logan, Camdyn, and Keyin. Kevin also is survived by his stepdaughter, Casey McDonnell (Mark Stevens), of Pittsburgh, Pa., and his stepson, Thomas McDonnell, of Girard, Ohio. Also surviving Kevin is Ali, the beloved Australian shepherd who truly was this man’s best friend.
Kevin grew up on the West Side of Youngstown, where he met lifetime friend Chuck Lengyel. The pair attended Chaney High School and shared fond memories ranging from being cast as Knight No. 2 and No. 5 in the school’s product of “Camelot,” becoming members of the Steel Valley 2% Street Van Club, to spending their teenage years in Mill Creek Park with plenty of cars and good-natured teenage mischief in between.
Kevin’s love of cars—and his subsequent profession—was fostered in his education at Chaney and the Choffin Trade School body shop. The 1976 Chaney grad was unable to join the automotive repair class because it was full, so he chose body shop. After working at several local body shops, Kevin opened Duffy’s Body Shop in November of 1990 in Niles. Kevin owned and operated the shop until his diagnosis forced him to close the doors in November of 2019, just a year short of his goal of retiring from the business after 30 years. Talented, honest, hard-working, and dependable, Kevin was proud of his professional success despite not advertising and the shop’s location on “a dead-end street.”
His passion for his work was not limited to professional pursuits. Kevin restored several of his own personal vehicles, including his “baby,” a 1962 Chevy Biscayne. Kevin just recently finished a lifelong dream when he completed the restoration of a 1949 Chevy pickup truck.
Growing up, Kevin was an avid bowler and baseball player and was a member of the 1970-71 Riordan Sporting Goods-Mill City League champions. He helped maintain baseball fields for several years with his father. As an adult, Kevin bowled at Wedgewood Lanes on the Malenic Sewer & Drain team with his father, Willie, and recorded a perfect 300 game. He later bowled at McKinley Lanes in Niles until back surgery. Kevin traveled with the American Transportation Bowling Association along with his father and the Aut Mori Grotto clowns, serving as the president for one term.
Kevin’s work with the Aut Mori Grotto circus was extensive. He assisted at the Struthers Field House putting up and taking down the rings and stages for the circus alongside his father and other Grotto members. Kevin also helped at the Aut Mori Grotto Haunted Hayride for several years and took great pride in scaring visitors with his various Halloween sets.
An avid fan of the Cleveland Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers, Kevin made sure to attend the Browns’ home game closest to Christmas—to really enjoy the true meaning of being a Browns fan. Every Sunday during football season, the bar at Kevin’s house was packed with loyal fans enjoying the food, the football, and the friendship. Planning for the next week’s festivities began the day after every game. Kevin’s Browns fandom was made permanent with the helmet tattoo he got to honor his buddy, Butch McNamara.
Kevin also loved to garden, canning tomatoes and creating his “world famous” mix of dill pickles and hot peppers, all from plants that he started with “just this little seed.” He was still in the process of perfecting his salsa, but he made sure everyone had a jar to take home after every year’s canning was complete.
Ever looking for the next spot to cast a line into the water in search of the biggest catch, Kevin spent much time fishing for walleye out of Ashtabula and hanging at Geneva-on the Lake, where Kevin and Jeanne spent at least one week a year.
In 1999, Kevin and Jeanne purchased a trailer at Western Reserve Lake, where they spent every summer until 2012. Kevin truly loved to camp, fish, and garden there. Some of his happiest times were at “The Lake.” When Fred and Barb Pichiotino purchased The Lake, Kevin and Jeanne formed one of their greatest friendships with the new owners. Fred would pull his golf cart up to Kevin and Jeanne’s trailer, call out “Darling,” and Kevin and Fred would go off on one adventure or another.
He became a fan of NASCAR racing and couldn’t get enough. He and friends traveled and camped at many of the tracks, but Kevin especially loved the speedways in Michigan and Charlotte, N.C. Kevin went to Charlotte every Memorial Day weekend that he could to spend time with his friend Dan Heck. He even talked Jeanne into going down there. The couple pulled their travel trailer, golf cart in the bed of the truck and their two dogs along with them and had the most unforgettable trip. In February, Kevin even managed to get to Las Vegas Speedway. If a race was on, he was watching it and took great pleasure in cheering on Ryan Blaney.
Kevin will be dearly missed by all of his friends and family, but especially by his wife and best friend, Jeanne. No matter what Jeanne was planning, involved with, donating, or dreaming up, Kevin was right by her side.
Kevin’s loved ones would like to take this opportunity to urge people around his age to be tested for hepatitis C. The seven-month illness that ultimately took Kevin from his family could have been avoided if his condition had been known.