My dear Mrs. Bird:
I am deeply grieved to learn of the death of your brother, the universally beloved Father Francis P. Duffy. I had the pleasure of his acquaintance and I shared the admiration he inspired in all who knew him by his joyous humanity and his unlimited interest in and devotion to the happiness and well-being of others. He will be sorely missed.
Yours faithfully,
HERBERT HOOVER
[Mrs. Michael Bird, Holy Cross Rectory, West 42nd Street, New York, N.Y.]
Note: Father Duffy, wartime chaplain of the "Fighting Sixty-ninth" Regiment and pastor of the Church of the Holy Cross in New York City, died on June 26, 1932.
Herbert Hoover, Message of Sympathy on the Death of Reverend Francis P. Duffy. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/207118