WHATELY — Robert M. Duda is remembered as a charitable man; the Air Force veteran of 32 years sponsored several individual children’s education programs, and would frequently donate to the S. White Dickinson Memorial Library, where he was chair of the board of trustees.
Duda’s philanthropy did not end when he passed away, at age 74, in February of 2017.
Last month, Duda’s friends and colleagues met in the library’s community room for a rededication ceremony. Jim Ross pulled a black cloth from a bronze plaque with Duda’s name on it, officially renaming the community room in his honor. Then, Duda’s companion, Ginger Houghton, presented a $200,000 check from Duda to the library.
“Bob took very much of a liking to the library,” Ross said. “He donated many books. He’d come in with a stack of a dozen books he bought online, all the newest stuff, and we’d read them and donate them back to the library.”
Ross, a longtime friend of Duda’s and fellow trustee, said the library was an integral part of Duda’s life. As a man who spearheaded many of the library’s infrastructure projects for more than a decade, Duda would want the library to continue such projects, Ross said.
“He was the main thrust behind getting new windows in the library and an HVAC system which gave the library air conditioning for the first time,” Ross said. “The result was about a 50 percent reduction in energy costs for the year.”
According to Candace Bradbury-Carlin, the library’s director, the $200,000 will also go into improving the building.
“This was earmarked for the library’s building needs, capital improvements and maintenance matters in the future,” Bradbury-Carlin said in a statement.
Bradbury-Carlin said the library will diligently carry out Duda’s mission, which will also benefit the public.
“Bob wished to forward its progress while assuring the building would be properly maintained,” she said. “He wanted it to last for future generations as a place of learning and education.”
Ross does not know if Duda, who Ross remembers as a private, quiet man, would want any recognition for his good deeds, and is unsure how Duda would feel about the community room being named after him.
However, the community room is used for a variety of things, from exhibiting art shows to holding meetings, and Ross said it’s important for those who enter and exit the room to see Duda’s name above the door.
“He probably wouldn’t want to be recognized, but we did and we should,” Ross said. “We should remember people like him. He put his heart and soul into this building.”