Summary:
Gloria Duffy had an illustrious career. She was a pioneer of Bay Area radio, involved in the arts, and was part of a flourishing real estate business in Lafayette from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Oral History:
Interviewer: This is the interview of Gloria Duffy, broadcasting in real estate, lady of Lafayette, given in April 2006. She was a pioneer on Bay Area radio. Part of a flourishing Lafayette real estate business from the 1950s to the 1970s, and today Gloria Duffy is still going strong in her 80s. Born Gloria S. Cohen, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Gloria grew up in Denver where she graduated from high school in 1941. As a teenager, she danced in the Denver Grand Opera Ballet Company and sang in the chorus. She was also part of a professional entertainment group. It was at Stevens College in Columbia, Missouri, where she majored in broadcasting and drama, then Gloria got her start in broadcasting on the local radio station. “Because the men were all at war, I got my start at the mike and closed the transmitter at midnight”, Gloria remembers. It was a valuable experience. After receiving her Associate Degree, Gloria returned to Denver where she attended Denver University and worked as a broadcaster at the local CBS station, KLZ. “We probably would have scrubbed the floor if they had asked us, we were so happy to be in broadcasting. It was a great adventure”. Gloria moved to the Bay Area where she became Women’s Program Director at KNBC and also did fashion modeling. “I had an hour show five days a week. We didn’t have secretaries or writers, you had to do it all yourself”. It was on a cruise to Hawaii with her mother that Gloria met Tom Duffy, a purser for mats and navigation. “A designer named Helga had given me her spring collection to show to the Liberty House stores in Hawaii. She told me to wear the collection on board ships so I was dressed to the nines”, Gloria remembers with a smile. “I went to the purser’s desk and there was Tom, Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome all dressed up in a white military-looking suit with gold epaulettes. Tom was born in San Francisco and received a football scholarship at St. Mary’s College, where he attended one year before being called to serve in the Merchant Marine in World War II. During the Korean War, Tom served as a paymaster on the aircraft carriers Antietam and Shangri-la. When he returned to San Francisco, he proposed and he and Gloria were married in Walnut Creek in 1952. He got into real estate in San Francisco. His first big sale was to a house mover in Concord, Mr. Trust, she remembers. Frank Ralph Trust was a shy man and Tom was outgoing. They formed a partnership. “Trust moved the houses and fixed them up and Tom sold them. I decorate the houses, choosing lighting fixtures and other decorative items in San Francisco. Tom would takes chances,” Gloria adds, “People said he was farsighted”. It was Tom’s daring that brought the couple to Lafayette. In 1954, Tom brought a big house near the Hillside Motel that had to be moved when Highway 24 was built, then relocated it to Sunset Village. When he couldn’t sell it, he moved in. By that time, the family included one daughter, Gloria Chairman. I hadn’t learned to drive yet so I took the Greyhound bus to San Francisco to my job”, Gloria remembers. Greyhound’s stop was at Reesa Road near the Hillside Motel. One stood outdoors, rain or shine until the bus came. Gloria’s mother Tennies came to live with the Duffys and helped with the growing family, which eventually included two more daughters, Tennies and Sheila, and a son, Sean. “Mother and I were Tom’s first assistants”, Gloria says. Thom opened his first real estate office in Lafayette in the Garrett building, where the Postina restaurant is today. In 1959, Liles Pember, Tom’s friend from his days at Madsen, left the shipping line to join the firm. By 1962, his business was doing so well that they opened up a second office at 3399 Mt. Diablo Blvd. “It was in the building we moved there, Gloria adds. He had an enormous sign on top of the building, and was so upset when the sign ordinance passed. “I decorated the office and had all the desks custom-made. At one time Tom had several real estate offices in the East Bay. Tom was a realtor and he liked moving”, Gloria adds. After four or five years, the family moved from Sunset Village to the hills of Lafayette. Tom started a subdivision in Walnut Creek called Skylark Farms. “We all worked together, including the children,” Gloria explains. “Our son Sean got his real estate license at age 17. Later, Tom went into partnership with a man from Oregon. They bought land there and developed a recreational subdivision which included a working cattle ranch. The whole family spent their summers working on the ranch. Later in his career, Tom also taught real estate at Diablo Valley College. After more than twenty-five years of marriage, Gloria and Tom divorced. Tom passed away in 2004. Gloria is a proud member of Broadcast Legends, composed of people from the early years of radio and TV broadcasting. She served on the board of the Mental Health Association of Contra Costa Country for twenty-five years, and as a trustee of the Greater Bay Area United Way, she was also on the board of the American Red Cross and received the Clara Barton Award, their highest award for volunteer service. Her daughters, Gloria and Sheila, both earned PhDs. Dr. Gloria C. Duffy was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Clinton, and is now CEO of San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club. Although used to the glamour of San Francisco, Gloria says she thought Lafayette was a lot nicer when she arrived here. “I like the semi-rural feeling. There was open space where you could buy lots. George Ellison, the man who owned our lot where we moved our house became a lifelong friend. There was a chinchilla farm near the Hillside Motel, where the Veteran’s Building is today, run by the Clapp family. The Seafood Grotto had fresh crabs every Friday. El Nita Rancho was the nice restaurant for special occasions. There was a meat market at La Fiesta Square. The old post office was on the corner, now a bank, across from the library. There used to be a helicopter pad in the yard of the Hillside Motel. Tom and I flew by helicopter from there to san Francisco Airport when we went on trips. I was broadcasting at KNBC San Francisco when Rossmoor was coming along. I came out to the Old Dollar Ranch and met the man who started it. Gloria feels Lafayette has changed in the years she’s lived here. “It isn’t the friendly little town it was. Many of the small houses had been torn down for mega-mansions. I don’t know any of the people who live in them. They’re busy and I’m busy. When my children were growing up there was a real spirit of neighborliness. I think we’re getting really overbuilt. We should not abandon the things that make this such a beautiful community, like low-density, low story buildings and open space. Keep the hillside ordinances respected. We need to keep some semblance of rural feeling.”
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