Jane Duffield

Jane Duffield,  71, of Pittsburgh, died on Tuesday March 21, 2023 at the Family Hospice of Canterbury Place after living a long and fulfilling life. The cause of death was ovarian cancer. For thirty years, she was the director of the News Bureau for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) serving as the organization’s chief spokesperson and crisis communications manager. Duffield and her staff managed many of the leading medical news stories of the last century. Duffield retired from UPMC in 2006 at age 55 to pursue a lifelong interest in theology and social justice. She enrolled in Union Theological Seminary in New York City. (NYC). While a student there, she taught a course in media relations and was the seminary’s media relations consultant. Duffield’s theological studies also included field studies at the Vatican in Rome, Italy, the National Council of Churches in NYC, and West End Presbyterian Church in NYC. Duffield was awarded her Master of Divinity degree from Union in 2010 and was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2011 by the National Capital Presbytery in Washington D.C. She served Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church (CCPC) in Washington D.C for nearly four years as their interim associate pastor. During that time, she revised and strengthened Chevy Chase’s mission and pastoral care programs. Moving back to Pittsburgh, Duffield served for two years as the interim pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Evans City, Pennsylvania. At St. John’s she guided the congregation through a period of transition by renewing their sense of mission and strengthening their ties with the community. She subsequently served as the interim pastor of Waverly Presbyterian Church in the Regent Square neighborhood of Pittsburgh in 2019/2020 and guided that congregation through the early part of the COVID pandemic. She also served many smaller churches in this area as a supply preacher. Jane traveled extensively and enjoyed spending summers at Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. She loved spending time with the many close, longtime friends who graced her life. In addition to her degree from Union, Jane earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University in 1973 and a Master of Social Work degree from West Virginia University in 1975. She is a graduate of Uniontown Senior High School, class of 1969. Duffield was preceded in death by her parents, William Ewing Duffield and Eloise Wildman Duffield of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. She is survived by her sister, Nancy Vernon, and brother-in-law, Rick Vernon, her nephew J. W. Eddy, her nephew and his wife, Dan and Alyssa Eddy, and their daughters Grace and Clara Jane, all of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Her nephew Benjamin Eddy, his wife, Brittany, and their children, Brantley and Brynna live in Irwin, Pennsylvania. Friends will be received on Friday evening, March 24, 2023 at John A, Freyvogel Sons, Inc. 4900 Centre Avenue at Devonshire Street (freyvogelfuneralhome.com) from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, a memorial service will take place on Saturday March 25, 2023 at Waverly Presbyterian Church, 590 South Braddock Avenue at 11:30AM. Burial will be private at Sylvan Heights Cemetery in Uniontown. In lieu of flowers, Jane requested that donations in her memory be made to one of the churches she served, West End Presbyterian Church, 165 W 105th Street, New York, NY 10025; St. John’s United Church of Christ, 501 East Main Street, Evans City PA 16033; Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church, One Chevy Chase Circle, NW, Washington, D.C. 20015 or Waverly Presbyterian Church, 590 South Braddock Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15221.

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