Jim Duffy, who served in law enforcement for 31 years and made an unsuccessful bid for San Diego County’s top lawman’s job — a post his father had held — died June 1 at a care facility in Oceanside after a long illness. He was 62.
Duffy is credited with leading efforts to fund and create a memorial for deputies, officers and agents in the county who died in the line of duty. The outdoor memorial at the County Administration Center sits on a granite stand and features names etched in glass panels.
Duffy grew up in San Diego County, where his dad, John Duffy, served as sheriff from 1971 to 1991. He joined the police explorer program at 14 and enrolled in the police academy when he was 18. His first job in law enforcement was in Calipatria in Imperial County.
He next worked at the Carlsbad Police Department for five years before joining the Sheriff’s Department in 1986.
“The Sheriff’s Department was my dad’s life,” said his oldest son, James Duffy. “In his house, sheriff’s stickers and magnets were all over the place.”
He was elected president of the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association in 2004. In 2008, he took a leave of absence to work as chief of staff for county Supervisor Ron Roberts. Duffy figured it would be a good experience before running for sheriff. He and Jay LaSuer, a former undersheriff and state Assembly member, lost the 2010 election to Bill Gore, who had been appointed sheriff a year earlier after then-Sheriff Bill Kolender retired.
As Roberts’ top aide, Duffy helped the former supervisor understand the Sheriff’s Department and its needs, and was good at getting things done. “I liked him a lot, to say the least,” Roberts said. “It came as a surprise to me when I got this message the other day that he had passed … I picture him youthful, smiling and sort of a good buddy that could work things out.”
Duffy, who borrowed money against his house to help finance his campaign, never regretted seeking the elected post, his son and friends said.
“He grew up with the Sheriff’s Department, with Grampa John being the sheriff,” James Duffy said. “He loved it and he knew he had to run for sheriff … We want to be as good as our fathers, or better. And for him, at least he had to try.”
Duffy retired in 2011, hanging up his badge for good. After he retired, the father of three focused on being a dad to son James and daughter Ashley from his first marriage, now in their 40s, and youngest son, Ethan, who is now 20.
“He was just such a good dad,” James Duffy recalled. “He was approaching retirement, and it wasn’t like ‘Time to go play and travel the world.’ It was just ‘take Ethan to school and continue to be a dad.’”
Duffy bought an RV and enjoyed taking his kids on trips. “He loved camping — camping was his whole thing, taking us everywhere,” his son said. “When we would get on the road to go camping he would get excited and happy.”
Five years after he retired, Duffy was diagnosed with dementia. The illness took its toll.
James recalled going to one appointment with his dad, and the doctor outlined what would come next with his father’s health. He felt overwhelmed — and his father walked up to him and gave him a hug. “He was never ‘woe is me,’” James said. “He was just stoic. He was more worried about our emotions than his own.”
Because of the way his disease progressed, the family wonders if he had Lewy body dementia, which causes physical ailments as well as cognitive symptoms, rather than Alzheimer’s. Tests are being run on brain tissue to determine if that was the case, his son said.
James Duffy noted that his father, grandfather and uncle all died when they were 62 — all from different causes. The former sheriff died of a heart attack in El Salvador, while Jim Duffy’s brother, John, suffered a stroke. “They were all the same age,” he said. “(It is) so weird.”
Those who worked with Duffy on the DSA board said he left his mark.
“He was extremely dedicated to ensuring that Deputy working conditions, salaries, benefits and rights were protected,” former DSA president Ernie Carrillo said in an email. “He grew up in the department and loved it to the end.”
James said he’s been fixing up his father’s Fallbrook house, which once was a barn and included space he used as a workshop for woodworking. He said his father was skilled in carpentry and electrical work. “When I’m there, I feel him,” he said.
