Lois Marie Duffin, 86, church musician and expert with orchids

Lois Marie Duffin, 86, of East Mount Airy, a Philadelphia church musician and expert orchid grower, died Tuesday, March 14, of kidney disease at home.

Mrs. Duffin was the founder of Lois Duffin Orchids, one of the largest retail orchid businesses in the Philadelphia area, and for more than 25 years president of the Greater Philadelphia Orchid Society.

Born to Charles A. Seifert and Alice M. Housholder in 1930, she grew up on a dairy farm near Bowling Green, Ohio, established by her German-immigrant grandfather.  It was there that she learned to love growing flowers.

She attended the local public schools and after graduating from Webster Township High School, she worked in the Rossford Ordnance Depot in Toledo, Ohio, doing office work. She also took night business classes at Davis College in Toledo.

In 1952, Mrs. Duffin joined The Grail, a Catholic lay women's organization, with hopes of becoming a missionary to Brazil.  She spent two years at the mission's headquarters in Loveland, Ohio, near Cincinnati, and while there joined the choir and received training in Gregorian chant.

Mrs. Duffin moved to Philadelphia in 1954 when a Grail Center was opened in West Philadelphia. Though she started out doing office work, cooking and baking bread, she soon focused her efforts on music, taking guitar lessons and studying classical guitar, for two years. She used her skills in sing-alongs at the Grail and to plan liturgical singing.  While at the Grail, she met James J. Duffin whom she married in 1957.

Early in the marriage, Mrs. Duffin was busy rearing six children, including a son, Martin, who died of cancer at age 5.

The Duffin home became a place where young Catholic couples met for prayer and singing. The couple organized special family Saturday Masses at Holy Cross Church in East Mount Airy that included singing by the congregation – something rarely heard before it was endorsed by the Second Vatican Council.

In 1968, Mrs. Duffin was asked to start a folk music Mass with guitar accompaniment at Holy Cross.  Over the next 30 years, she planned, directed, and played music for the Mass, and was requested by clerics to give workshops on folk-style liturgical music in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Camden Diocese.

"When the new music was added to the Mass, the word went out that Holy Cross was the place to come for a great liturgy – and that meant Lois," said Holy Cross member Betty Coyne.

Mrs. Duffin's second passion was orchids. Mrs. Duffin started growing the delicate flowers in 1980 after she was able to get her first orchid to rebloom – an almost impossible feat for an amateur grower.

Her husband joined in the avocation, which by1990 had become a vocation. The business expanded from a greenhouse attached to the Duffin home, to rented spaces in the area. The couple not only sold plants, but also rented blooming plants for events, and space to other orchid growers.

The Duffins regularly won awards at the Philadelphia Flower Show. In 1985, Mrs. Duffin became the president of the Greater Philadelphia Orchid Society, and she also was active in other orchid societies in the area. Her skill with orchids made her a sought-after consultant for florists whose customers were struggling to grow the fragile plants.

As Mrs. Duffin arranged for experts to give talks to local orchid groups, she made friends with other orchid experts worldwide. The speakers reciprocated by inviting the Duffins to visit them in Brazil, Hawaii, Australia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

She stayed engaged with orchid growing, receiving daily reports on the plants from family, even as her health failed, said her son, J.M. Duffin.

Besides her son J.M., she is survived by her other children, Josefa M., Angela, Neil, and Sean D.; and a grandson. Her husband died in 2016, and a sister and five brothers died earlier.

A 9:30 a.m. visitation Saturday, March 25, will be followed by an 11 a.m. Funeral Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 140 E. Mount Airy Ave., Philadelphia. Interment is in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Donations may be made to Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia via http://cssphiladelphia.org, or Camilla Hall Nursing Home via http://camillahall.org.