In mid-20th century the pinnacle of
downtown San Francisco
elegance was an invitation to the City of Paris for a fashion show staged by Gloria Cohan Duffy, who served as emcee, commentator and, frequently, a model.
Duffy had been a ballet dancer and host of “Women’s Magazine of the Air” on KNBC radio and she brought a reputation for glamour and sophistication when she was named fashion director at City of Paris, the legendary department store with a stained-glass ceiling atop a 5-story rotunda.
As she later put it in the documentary film “San Francisco: the Way It Was,” “Everybody who was anybody was sooner or later in and out of the City of Paris. That’s why it was a lot of fun to work there. We just had a passing parade.”
The parade with Cohan as drum major lasted through the glory years of the late 1940s and 1950s before she moved on to the more lucrative career of
developing subdividing ranch land into housing in Contra Costa County, as it grew into a suburb after the widening of Highway 24.
In partnership with her husband, developer Tom Duffy, she built an apartment complex in the small downtown of Lafayette that she decorated and styled after the City of Paris. She christened the building “Versailles Apartments.” She also redid her own relocated ranch home on a Lafayette hilltop to evoke the City of Paris.
Duffy made a lot of money — and spent a lot of it on decor. She gave even more away, donating to charities right until her death Aug. 19 at the Santa Clara home of her daughter, also named Gloria Duffy. She was 98.
The cause
of death was respiratory failure, said her daughter, who is president and CEO of the Commonwealth Club of California.
“My mom was bright and exceptionally curious about the world around her,” said the younger Gloria Duffy. “She shared her interests and passions widely and dedicated her talents to helping others through education, philanthropy, daily kindness and support to everyone she knew.”
Gloria Sara Cohan was born Dec. 10, 1923 in Hot Springs, Ark. Her mother was single, and they moved to Denver where they lived in an apartment, mother and latchkey child. Every day they walked together to Cathedral School where Gloria was placed in the care of Catholic nuns.
After school it was piano and ballet lessons, a pursuit hindered by the rickets she contracted as a child. A common effect was bowlegs, which required corrective braces. But still she danced, even performing with the Denver Grand Opera Ballet.
After graduating from high school in 1941 she attended Stephens College, a private two-year school for women in Columbia, Mo. She majored in communications and drama and became an on-air personality at the campus radio station. This led to a full time position at KLZ in Denver, and from there, she moved up until she was at KNBC in San Francisco, which later became KNBR.
As Women’s Program Director, she planned shows to appeal to a female audience of listeners. Most prominent was the program she hosted, “Women’s Magazine of the Air.”
“It was an early version of what Terri Gross does on “Fresh Air,” her daughter said, “a mixture of authors, political figures, celebrities and thought leaders, that also mixed in household advice and beauty tips.” It lasted about a decade, spanning the 1940s and 1950s. She later moved to TV, doing occasional on-air reporting for KPIX and KRON.
It was fortuitous that the mother of a friend from ballet school, Ollie Blevins,
worked in the glove department at City of Paris. That helped Cohan become a City of Paris model.
“I would dress all up in the finest clothes. Can you imagine any young woman having anything nicer?” she said in the documentary. “It was just like a dream come true.”
According to Jeanine Landsinger, the granddaughter of Ollie Blevins who grew up in San Francisco, “Gloria was always very glamorous and elegant and drop-dead gorgeous. She was always bringing presents to everybody and was just a lovely person.”
In 1949, while at the City of Paris, Duffy brought her mother out from Denver for a winter holiday cruise on the Lurline, a luxury liner to Hawaii. Duffy also served as an onboard model, wearing designer fashions which she carried with her in a trunk. This got the attention of Tom Duffy, a supply officer in the U.S. Navy, on reserve between wars and working as a purser. They struck up a relationship which carried over to Honolulu, where she had runway work at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
Later she was photographed for magazine spreads by the great Imogen Cunningham, according to her daughter. Eventually, she donated her designer clothes to her alma mater, Stephens College, where they have been studied by students in the fashion design program and even displayed in the campus museum.
Cohan and Duffy were married in Walnut Creek in 1952. They moved into her apartment on Geary Street, west of Union Square, and a straight shot from the City of Paris. They moved to Lafayette in 1956 and she commuted by Greyhound bus for three years before leaving her job at the store. She stayed connected to the city through volunteer work with the Red Cross and United Way, and by regular attendance at the San Francisco Opera. Wherever she went, even to the ranch, she was stylish and had her hair beautifully coiffed.
“Fashion to her was an expression of personality, taste, joy, uniqueness, beauty and the unexpected,” said her daughter. “It also sometimes reflected current social trends and messages.”
The Duffy real estate empire started when they partnered with Ralph Trost, who owned a house-moving business. Duffy purchased land far from the freeway path, Trost moved the houses onto it and Duffy resold them. This led to the Duffys splitting off from Trost to form Tom Duffy, Inc., developer of subdivisions in Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Concord and Benicia. Gloria did all of the color and decor schemes with French accents.
In the 1960s the Duffys bought a large working cattle ranch in central Oregon, part of which was subdivided into lots for housing.
They were divorced in 1979 and split the business, with Gloria getting the Bay Area holdings which she ran until she was in her 90s and turned it over to her children. She later moved to the South Bay home her daughter and her husband, Rod Diridon,
a South Bay politician and transit advocate.
Until she became too frail, Duffy was involved in all decisions regarding aesthetics and decor for the family firm. She served on the boards of directors of the United Way of the Bay Area, the American Red Cross Northern California and the Contra Costa Mental Health Association. She received the Women in American History Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution, Santa Clara Chapter, for her WW II work for the USO, and the Broadcast Legends of the Year award for her pioneering work on air.
“She woke up every morning of her life saying ‘what are we doing today,’ ” said her daughter. “Every Sunday we drove an hour each way so she could attend church in Lafayette. She attended all of her activities almost until the end.’’
Survivors include daughters Gloria Duffy of Santa Clara, Tennys Duffy of Prineville, Or., Sheila Duffy of Martinez, and Sean Duffy of Lafayette.
A celebration of life will take place at 1 pm. Oct. 8 at Lafayette United Methodist Church, 955 Moraga Road, Lafayette, California.
Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF
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