WORLAND — Mentor, passion for Worland, detail-oriented are a few of the words that colleagues used to describe former Worland Mayor Dave Duffy who passed away Friday in Billings.

Duffy served on the city council before being elected for a four-year term as mayor, serving from 2013-2016.

Worland Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Glanz said, “He was a great mentor to me and a good friend. I think he’ll really be missed.”

She added, “He really promoted the city and moved us forward.”

Worland Mayor Jim Gill served with Duffy on the council and then served with him when Duffy was mayor.

“It’s a great loss. Dave was so important to the community of Worland as a past mayor. He worked tirelessly for the benefit of the community.”

Duffy always had something on his mind for the council to consider and act, whether it was updating ordinances, or other issues, Gill said.

During an interview in December 2016, Duffy remarked that updating the ordinances was one of the things he and the council worked hard on. He said during the interview that he and the council were able to clean up a lot of ordinances that were out of date.

His favorite one was a 1905 ordinance that stipulated that everyone in the city was responsible for putting lye in their privy once a week. Failure to do so could result in a fine. It was the police department’s responsibility to make sure that happened. “It was still on the books about eight months ago,” Duffy said, but added, grinning, that it hadn’t been enforced for a long time.

Duffy faced some challenging issues during his tenure as mayor, including rising costs at the landfill.

“His great leadership got us to a point where we felt we got the best deal for our citizens of Worland and that’s a great credit to Dave Duffy,” Gill said.

He added that Duffy was innovative and thought outside the box.

In addition to his leadership style, Gill said it was “a lot of fun to visit with Dave. He had some great ideas and he always challenged people to give consideration to his ideas.

“We didn’t always agree, but we agreed to disagree.”

Gill said Duffy’s death came as a shock and “our hearts go out to the family. He will be missed. He left his mark on Worland.”

City Attorney Kent Richins said, “I had high respect for him as mayor and as an individual. He very much cared about the city of Worland. He ran for mayor because I think he cared and he wanted to make a difference.”

During Duffy’s December 2016 interview, he said he initially sought a council appointment upon his retirement from RT. “Worland has been a good community for us. I felt I had something to offer the folks in Ward 1,” he said.

Richins added, “I’ve worked for a lot of mayors over the years. You have different kinds of mayors. I would describe him as a working mayor, one who liked to come to work and liked to be involved in everything. He was a hands-on, very involved working mayor.”

Richins said Duffy was attentive to detail and wanted to get to the bottom line for issues pertinent to the city.

“He was fairly aggressive about his agenda. He had things he wanted to get accomplished,” he said. “I think the golf course is one thing I would attribute to him. Getting involved with the contract with Go Play Golf is a standout that I think he did a very good job at being aggressive to get the golf course back on track.”

During Duffy’s December 2016 interview, Duffy discussed park improvement and equipment upgrades as things he felt were accomplished while he was mayor. One disappointment, he noted, was Worland being unable to keep its essential air service.

“He was kind of a tough mayor to work for, he had an agenda and he wanted to see it through,” Richins said. “Being a mayor is a tough job, it’s not easy. It takes the right kind of person and he was.”

He said not everything Duffy wanted to accomplish were finished during his tenure, including upgrading and enhancing Pioneer Square.

“He planted the seed. The budget gets in the way of progress sometimes.”

COUNCIL THOUGHTS

Council member Mandy Horath said, “I learned a lot from him. That was my first term. He came in as the mayor his first term, too. It was nice that he was a councilman before he became mayor. He really guided us in a lot of ways in the first year that we got there.

“I think he was a very passionate man about Worland, what’s best for Worland and how we did things around here,” Horath said.

She said she had a lot of respect for him, noting he was very hardworking and very accessible as mayor.

“It was my pleasure to serve under him,” Horath added.

Council member Dennis Koch said, “He will be missed. We’ve lost a real asset to the community as far as I’m concerned. I thoroughly enjoyed the four years I worked with him on the council.”

He reiterated Richins comments about Duffy’s ideas and projects being completed after he left office. “Mayor Duffy was instrumental in getting many of the projects started that we see happening today.”

Council member Keith Gentzler said, “I was shocked to hear Dave passed away. I thought he was very good mayor.. He’s got a superb family. He had a lot of people backing him and we worked very well together. I’m just very, very sad to hear that he passed away. The city lost a very valuable person as far as I’m concerned.”

Gentzler said Duffy was “very methodical, intense.”

“His family is in our prayers,” he added.

In addition to his public service, Duffy retired from RT in 2007, and was active at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. He was also a support of the Washakie Museum and Cultural Center.

Memorial services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Worland.

Gill said city hall will be closed Friday for the memorial services.

A full obituary can be found on A2.