George was a much loved local figure who spent all but three of his 79 summers on Torch Lake. From early childhood, George enjoyed sharing his knowledge and love of reptiles with local residents. At the age of 7 he started a little local zoo of snakes, frogs and anything he could catch. Over the years the "McDuffie Zoo" expanded to include turtles, poisonous snakes, skunks, porcupines, raccoons, bats, crows, etc.

McDuffie was also a favorite speaker at the Grass River Natural Area with his annual talk "In Cold Blood - Snakes, Reptiles and Amphibians". In the 1980s McDuffie was involved in a six-year study of snakes, including the massasauga rattler, in the Skegemog Lake Wildlife Area. He also led an annual outing, as a guide, through the wildlife area for local residents looking for massasaugas.

McDuffie earned a Ph.D. in herpetology in 1960 from the University of Cincinnati and was a biology and zoology teacher in the Cincinnati public schools. He is well remembered for the snakes, alligators and other reptiles which roamed, un-caged, in his classroom.

Before launching his teaching career, George worked in the reptile house at the Cincinnati Zoo and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. He served for two years (1951-53) in the Army at Ft. Carson, Colo.. From 1956 to 1959, Dr. McDuffie worked as a laboratory assistant at the University of Cincinnati where he met Patricia Milligan. The two were wed in 1959 and went on to raise two children.

McDuffie was an avid collector. In addition to his reptiles, his collections included license plates, model trains and street cars, old sales tax stamps, Christmas seals and good jokes and limericks. He was a member of the Greater Cincinnati Herpetological Society, the Cincinnati Transit Historical Association and the Association of License Plate Collectors of America.

Dr. McDuffie is survived by Patricia, his wife of 48 years, his son, Mark McDuffie, his daughter, Jennifer Spurlock, grandchildren, Alex and Alden |McDuffie, Keri, Sean and Seth Spurlock, as well as his brother, Edward McDuffie of Bellaire and his sister, Mathilde McDuffie of Grand Coteau, La.

Visitation was Friday, April 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. at T.P. White & Sons Funeral Home in Cincinnati.. Mass of Christian Burial was Saturday, April 21 at 2:30 p.m. at St. Rose Church.

Memorial donations can be sent to the Torch Lake Protection Alliance, Box 706, Bellaire, Mich.,. 49615.