Gorman Duffett

Gorman Louis Duffett was born on December 10, 1938 in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of John G. Duffett and Ruth Smith Duffett. His father was the captain of a Great Lakes ore freighter; his mother was a registered nurse. He was formerly married to Anneliese Duffett (Gruenzweig). Together they had three children, Michael (Pamela), Stephen (Liz), and Lisa Sutton (Keith). There are four grandsons, Ryan Duffett, Brandon Duffett, Logan Duffett, and William Sutton and one granddaughter, Anna Sutton. Gorman had one sister, Janet Fassinger (Charles-dec.) mother of Susan Crawford (Lain-dec.), Jill Williams (Kevin), and Glen Fassinger (Tami). He was great uncle to 5. There were 15 god children including special godsons, Todd Standifer, Frank Lawrence, Rocco Yeargin, and Onyechi Enwonwu. Special goddaughters include Shala Robinson, Cartier Robinson, and Sierra Everette. Numerous cousins also survive. Gorman was baptized as an infant at Brooklyn Memorial Methodist Church in Cleveland; later he attended Archwood Avenue Congregational Church and the Community Church of Brooklyn (UCC). While in college, he embraced the Roman Catholic faith and for 40 years belonged to St. Henry Catholic Church where he found a second family. His final church home was Christ Episcopal Church. Gorman attended the Cleveland Public Schools through the tenth grade. He graduated from Brooklyn High School in 1956. He then attended Marietta College (A.B., history, 1960), Stanford University (M.A., history, 1961), Western Reserve University (M.S.L.S., 1961), and the University of Pittsburgh, (Ph.D., 1976). Gorman taught school at St. Albert the Great School and Addison Junior High. He then served the libraries of Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland State University, Hiram College, and John Carroll University. At Hiram and John Carroll he was the Director of the Library. In Gorman's life there were some special families and individuals who embraced him including the Standifers, the Yeargins, the Lawrences, the Greenes, the Friends, the Averyharts, the Polks, the Robinsons, the Witchers, the Harrises, the Peeks, Joan Hill, Marge Stewart, Justin White, Josh Dingus, Yishay Washington, Langston Maclin, the Millers, Connie Brooks, and Joseph Parambil. The library staffs at Hiram College and John Carroll University were also special to him. In his final years at Christ Church, Gorman found a new freedom, a new warmth, and a new closeness to his core beliefs and values based on a believing, accepting, and thinking relationship to Jesus Christ. Christ Church was the answer to many prayers and a Spirit led search.


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