Mary Lahey Duffie


COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Mary Lahey "Betty" Duffie, who led efforts to improve treatment for mentally disabled South Carolinians, died Saturday from complications of pneumonia. She was 79.

Ms. Duffie fought to get job training and education for mentally disabled people and to place them in group homes in the community in the 1960s.

She later founded the state Special Olympics and the Richland/Lexington Disabilities and Special Needs Board. She believed mentally disabled people should enjoy the same rights as others.

Associated Press Archive - Tuesday, January 11, 2000


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Mary Duffie


COLUMBIA - Private graveside services for Mary Lahey Duffie, 79, will be held on Tuesday. A memorial service open to the public will be held at noon Tuesday at Greenlawn Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. Phil Lavender officiating. Visitation will be 7-9 p.m. Monday at the funeral home, 845 Leesburg Rd. Memorials may be made to the Babcock Center Foundation, P.O. Box 3817, Columbia, SC 29230.

Mrs. Duffie died Saturday, January 8, 2000. She was born in Columbia, a daughter of the late Gordon C. and Blanche Gibson Lahey. She founded Babcock Center in 1970 to provide comprehensive community services for people with mental retardation and to offer an alternative to institutional care. She began her 30-year career in the field of disabilities by providing daycare to three children with mental retardation in the basement of a Columbia church. As a result of her leadership and guidance, Babcock Center is now the largest provider of services for people with severe lifelong disabilities in S.C.

She initiated the first significant efforts to provide community supports for persons with mental retardation in S.C. She established programs to provide vocational training and community residential care for men and women with mental retardation. This provided the opportunity for employment and independence where none existed before. The vision and determination shown by her as an advocate pre-dated many of the current opportunities persons with disabilities enjoy today. She supported public education and rights of persons with disabilities long before the inception of constitutional rights and federal law mandated them. She provided guidance and leadership to many families through her tireless advocacy. Above all, she provided hope where none existed before.

Mrs. Duffie founded the Special Olympics South Carolina and served as its first statewide director. She also formed the Richland Lexington Disabilities and Special Needs Board and served as its initial executive director. She also assisted in founding the S.C. Human Service Provider Association. She was presented with the Order of the Palmetto in 1985 and received a certificate of Achievement from N.C. Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. in 1994. The Mary L. Duffie Leadership Award was established by the S.C. Dept. of Mental Retardation and the S.C. Human Service Provider's Association. She was presented a "Woman of Achievement" award by Gov. David M. Beasley in 1992. This award recognized her as a community leader, advocate for those with lifelong disabilities, and founder of Babcock Center. It celebrated her contributions during Women's History Month for serving as a role model for other S.C. women and to record women's history in progress.

Surviving are her husband, Col. Johnnie D. Duffie; sons and daughters-in-law, Jack and Angela Duffie of Columbia, Pat and Diane Duffie of Chicago; daughter and son-in-law, Betsy and John Robinson of Heidelburg, Germany and Columbia; sister-in-law, Barbara Lahey of Burlington, N.C.; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; 16 nieces and nephews.

State, The (Columbia, SC) - Sunday, January 9, 2000


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