Roger R. Duford

Roger came home from the Anna Jaques Hospital in a shoebox, 88 years ago on October 12,1937, which was the first Columbus Day holiday ever celebrated! As a child he spoke French fluently.

After graduating from Newburyport High School, he attended the University of New Hampshire. He was a member of the Phi Mu Delta fraternity. His paying job at the fraternity house was ironing the brother’s khakis. The crease was perfection!

Roger majored in Economics, minored in Art History. While at UNH he was elected Mayor of Durham for a day, after he and his team constructed floats and ran a winning campaign, which, at the finale, he came swinging onto a packed auditorium stage, on a rope in a cave man costume.

Roger brought his dog, Buffer, to college with him. Buffer was a very smart dog. He especially loved to ride on the back of Rog’s motorcycle. He was appointed the fraternity mascot. Roger trained him to wait for the first fraternity brother to go out the door in the morning and stay by their side through all of their classes.

Roger attended ROTC while at UNH. He became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army. His position was artillery, forward observer.

Roger had various careers. He worked at Western Electric, in North Andover, where they made him an official Industrial Engineer. He also worked at Gould/Shawmut as a marketing engineer and was head of manufacturing.

He loved motorcycles. He had a Triumph, a Harley and a BSA Spitfire Scrambler, on which he and Leo Rocco would zoom to work in white shirts with ties blowing in the wind, while Leo held on for dear life, sitting on a single person passenger seat.

Roger’s true love was running. Five K’s and marathons were his thing. He proudly finished the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington DC, after partying away the night before with his brothers, Ron and Jerry.

Roger loved jazz and was a self-taught jazz pianist. He also loved to build and renovate his houses on the river in Amesbury.

Roger was one of the original founders of the Winner’s Circle. Along with his 2 brothers they built a business around the original family house. As the business grew, Roger became an integral part of it. Today, as it stands, the ‘Circle’ is 50+ years old. Roger was also part owner of Salisbury Auto Mall, which he helped construct with his own 2 hands.

He loved the beach, Marco Island, and his many animals from his pet skunk to his pet squirrels to his homing pigeons and a multitude of dogs.

He was a father figure to a few young men...Steve, John, Jeff and Phil. He was a mentor to others...Joe and Steve.

He wasn’t a great golfer but proudly/luckily got a hole in one at the Apple Hill golf course.

Roger built his dream house on Point Shore in Amesbury 17 years ago. He loved the Merrimack River, and this was his perfect retirement home. He had it built expressly as a party house. He and Duffy (whom he met in NYC) had endless cocktail parties, dinner parties, you name it, all with his dear friends who were always there to support him.

Although he had a major stroke 34 years ago, he never let that deter him from what he strived to do. With years of PT, he learned to walk again. Years of Speech Therapy, learned to talk again. And through all of this, his wonderful physician, Dr. Stephen Schissel, cared for him with great compassion, for which we will be forever grateful.

Roger passed away after having a simple, routine procedure at the Anna Jaques Hospital that went wrong. Sadly, he did not survive. He never wanted to be in a nursing home, and we were able to keep him here in his beautiful house near the river.

He leaves behind his wife of 61 years, Duffy; his son, Scot; his son, Shaun and his wife Kimberly; his former daughter-in-law, Tracy Duford; his grandchildren Kylie and her husband Kendrick, Sage, Jeremy, Madison and Peter Roger; his great grandbabies Parker and Summer. He also leaves his brother Ron and wife, Hattie and his brother Jerry and wife, Rudy; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his daughter, Kim.

Roger always said he had a wonderful life, and he certainly did! Rest in peace, Rog...you deserve it.

The Duford family will have a private Graveside Service this coming Spring, where he will be laid to eternal rest beside his daughter, Kim. Arrangements were made by Paul C. Rogers Family Funeral Home, 2 Hillside Avenue, Amesbury, MA 01913.