Merrie Duffy-Cavaliere
December 25, 1948 — April 27, 2016
MERRIE DAYLE DUFFY-CAVALIERE
Merrie Dayle Duffy-Cavaliere, age 67, of Mt. Airy, MD, died Wednesday April 27, 2016 at her home with her husband and son near her. Dayle, as she was affectionately known by family and friends, was born December 25, 1948 in Washington, DC, the daughter of the late William R. Duffy and the late Arlene Duffy (nee Smith). She was also preceded in death by her younger sister Arlene Patrice Duffy. Married in 1986, she was the wife of Michael A Cavaliere, mother of Adam Matthew Cavaliere, Paige Noel Cavaliere, and step-mother to Ashley Michelle Leith. She is survived by her brother Daniel Lee Duffy of Rockville, MD and her sister Sherrie Lynn Duffy Clark and husband Steven of New Market, MD.
She was a graduate of Robert E. Peary High School, Montgomery County Community College, and eventually earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education and a Master’s Degree in Special Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. But, not before she managed to backpack across Europe and beyond. She suffered a back injury in France and was left behind by her German and British companions. Never one to give up, this young blue-eyed curly-haired blonde American eventually made her way through Germany, Poland (as Polish Pope John Paul II was elected), Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, skirted around the Bangladesh war and finally ended up in Sri-Lanka. All with the help of many gypsies, Bedouins, shepherds, truck drivers, boat captains, train conductors and certainly angels along the way. From there she immigrated to Australia for a few years before returning to the US.
Yearning again for the adventure of travel, she crewed on a 60 foot trimaran sailboat along with a little old German lady and a German Captain who was armed with nothing but a sextant, charts (which it turns out he had stolen) and the wind. They set out across the Atlantic almost sinking in 40 foot waves as they transited a tropical storm. After reaching the Azores she disembarked and flew to Portugal just before the true owner of the charts caught up with her captain. Making her way to London she stayed there for a couple of years before returning to Maryland to teach sailing at the Annapolis Sailing School.
She was a portraiture artist who painted with pastels under the name Dayle Duffy and during her travels she painted: album covers for CBS Records London, portraits in Selfridges of visiting sheiks and dignitaries, and she painted on ferries, trains, and ships to pay her way. Out of kindness she would often paint the portrait of a child whose mother had no hope of ever owning a camera. That was who she was. Dayle loved people; she could look into your eyes and see you at your very core. She was a problem solver and cared deeply about the personal problems others were struggling with. She could find solutions that, if you listened, might just bail you out. She was a people person with a bright sunny personality that could light up a room in mere seconds. She was talented, beautiful, smart and witty.
Eventually she settled into a career as an Elementary Art Teacher. Since “status quo” was not in her vocabulary she worked tirelessly to motivate her students using humor, songs, puppets, stories, fine-art, and even small pets to capture their attention and teach them to reach beyond what they ever thought they could do. Between school years she hosted a summer art camp, “Noah’s Art Camp,” on her country property teaching area children to paint, sculpt, etch, paper mache, make jewelry and more. On hot days she would take her class wading in a local creek and arm them with small nets to catch minnows and crawdads. She raised rabbits and at one point she had a herd of 32 bunnies. The highpoint of the camp was the “Bunny Overnight” when each child got to take one home for the night. She retired from Montgomery County Public Schools after 30 years of service and stopped the camp when she became ill.
There were many firsts in her life. She was the first female telescope picture photographer on the beaches of Ocean City, MD (they said it was too hard for a woman), the first portraitist to be hired as an entertainer on Princess Cruises (and dine nightly at the Captains table), perhaps the first woman to have stopped a brawl between Irish & English sailors from becoming a blood-bath when a speargun was produced, and gave the first picture of their child to many loving mothers.
Her art and legacy lives on as her portraits are reported to have been spotted everywhere from English cottages, to manor houses, to palaces, to huts on the beaches of Sri-Lanka. Her artistic response to the 9/11 tragedy, “The Promise,” can be found in homes, cathedrals, firehouses, and memorials throughout New York City.
Despite the valiant efforts of her oncologist and his Johns Hopkins team, along with all who loved and cared for her, Dayle succumbed to complications due to metastasized breast cancer and left us all, well before dawn, on a mild spring morning.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday May 21st at 3:00 PM in the sanctuary of Gaithersburg Church of the Nazarene, 8921 Warfield Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20882. A reception and meal will immediately follow. Please RSVP with total number of guests for the memorial and the meal at rememberingdayle@gmail.com or call 301-607-8163. She will be laid to rest in the historic Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, MD at a private service earlier that day.
In lieu of sending flowers please make a donation in Dayle’s name to one or both of the following organizations as your heart leads. Both played pivotal roles; tirelessly providing treatment and support as Dayle battled this horrible disease. Contact the organization for instructions.
The John Fetting Fund for Breast Cancer Prevention
Contact the Development Office
The Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
750 East Pratt Street, Suite 1700
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-361-6391
kimmelgiving@jhmi.edu
Gaithersburg Church of the Nazarene
8921 Warfield Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20882
301-330-0366
www.gaithersburgnazarene.org
Merrie Dayle Duffy-Cavaliere, age 67, of Mt. Airy, MD, died Wednesday April 27, 2016 at her home with her husband and son near her. Dayle, as she was affectionately known by family and friends, was born December 25, 1948 in Washington, DC, the daughter of the late William R. Duffy and the late Arlene Duffy (nee Smith). She was also preceded in death by her younger sister Arlene Patrice Duffy. Married in 1986, she was the wife of Michael A Cavaliere, mother of Adam Matthew Cavaliere, Paige Noel Cavaliere, and step-mother to Ashley Michelle Leith. She is survived by her brother Daniel Lee Duffy of Rockville, MD and her sister Sherrie Lynn Duffy Clark and husband Steven of New Market, MD.
She was a graduate of Robert E. Peary High School, Montgomery County Community College, and eventually earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education and a Master’s Degree in Special Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. But, not before she managed to backpack across Europe and beyond. She suffered a back injury in France and was left behind by her German and British companions. Never one to give up, this young blue-eyed curly-haired blonde American eventually made her way through Germany, Poland (as Polish Pope John Paul II was elected), Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, skirted around the Bangladesh war and finally ended up in Sri-Lanka. All with the help of many gypsies, Bedouins, shepherds, truck drivers, boat captains, train conductors and certainly angels along the way. From there she immigrated to Australia for a few years before returning to the US.
Yearning again for the adventure of travel, she crewed on a 60 foot trimaran sailboat along with a little old German lady and a German Captain who was armed with nothing but a sextant, charts (which it turns out he had stolen) and the wind. They set out across the Atlantic almost sinking in 40 foot waves as they transited a tropical storm. After reaching the Azores she disembarked and flew to Portugal just before the true owner of the charts caught up with her captain. Making her way to London she stayed there for a couple of years before returning to Maryland to teach sailing at the Annapolis Sailing School.
She was a portraiture artist who painted with pastels under the name Dayle Duffy and during her travels she painted: album covers for CBS Records London, portraits in Selfridges of visiting sheiks and dignitaries, and she painted on ferries, trains, and ships to pay her way. Out of kindness she would often paint the portrait of a child whose mother had no hope of ever owning a camera. That was who she was. Dayle loved people; she could look into your eyes and see you at your very core. She was a problem solver and cared deeply about the personal problems others were struggling with. She could find solutions that, if you listened, might just bail you out. She was a people person with a bright sunny personality that could light up a room in mere seconds. She was talented, beautiful, smart and witty.
Eventually she settled into a career as an Elementary Art Teacher. Since “status quo” was not in her vocabulary she worked tirelessly to motivate her students using humor, songs, puppets, stories, fine-art, and even small pets to capture their attention and teach them to reach beyond what they ever thought they could do. Between school years she hosted a summer art camp, “Noah’s Art Camp,” on her country property teaching area children to paint, sculpt, etch, paper mache, make jewelry and more. On hot days she would take her class wading in a local creek and arm them with small nets to catch minnows and crawdads. She raised rabbits and at one point she had a herd of 32 bunnies. The highpoint of the camp was the “Bunny Overnight” when each child got to take one home for the night. She retired from Montgomery County Public Schools after 30 years of service and stopped the camp when she became ill.
There were many firsts in her life. She was the first female telescope picture photographer on the beaches of Ocean City, MD (they said it was too hard for a woman), the first portraitist to be hired as an entertainer on Princess Cruises (and dine nightly at the Captains table), perhaps the first woman to have stopped a brawl between Irish & English sailors from becoming a blood-bath when a speargun was produced, and gave the first picture of their child to many loving mothers.
Her art and legacy lives on as her portraits are reported to have been spotted everywhere from English cottages, to manor houses, to palaces, to huts on the beaches of Sri-Lanka. Her artistic response to the 9/11 tragedy, “The Promise,” can be found in homes, cathedrals, firehouses, and memorials throughout New York City.
Despite the valiant efforts of her oncologist and his Johns Hopkins team, along with all who loved and cared for her, Dayle succumbed to complications due to metastasized breast cancer and left us all, well before dawn, on a mild spring morning.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday May 21st at 3:00 PM in the sanctuary of Gaithersburg Church of the Nazarene, 8921 Warfield Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20882. A reception and meal will immediately follow. Please RSVP with total number of guests for the memorial and the meal at rememberingdayle@gmail.com or call 301-607-8163. She will be laid to rest in the historic Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, MD at a private service earlier that day.
In lieu of sending flowers please make a donation in Dayle’s name to one or both of the following organizations as your heart leads. Both played pivotal roles; tirelessly providing treatment and support as Dayle battled this horrible disease. Contact the organization for instructions.
The John Fetting Fund for Breast Cancer Prevention
Contact the Development Office
The Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
750 East Pratt Street, Suite 1700
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-361-6391
kimmelgiving@jhmi.edu
Gaithersburg Church of the Nazarene
8921 Warfield Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20882
301-330-0366
www.gaithersburgnazarene.org
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Merrie Duffy-Cavaliere, please visit our flower store.