Harold Duane Bobeck

Harold Duane Bobeck, 83, passed away on Thursday, September 23, 2021. Duane was born to Harold and May Fern (Bleekman), 2nd generation Swedish and 3rd generation German parents in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His Father’s family hailed from Syracuse, Indiana and his Mother grew up in the Cedar Creek area north of Fort Wayne. Duane lived in Fort Wayne (at least seasonally) his entire life.

Upon graduating from South Side High School, he attended Indiana University and pledged the Acacia Fraternity. He made some of his very best friends while at IU and found great mentorship and guidance from his Real Estate School professors. He took flying lessons during his college years and got his pilot's license while there. Flying became one of his most treasured pursuits. His favorite past-times also included walking with his German Shepherds, IU Basketball, military history, and world travel.

Duane started his real estate career his Senior year building three single family homes in Bloomington. After college, he sold “PreFab” homes and served in the Army Reserve. Early in his career, Duane evolved into commercial real estate brokerage and started to look for development projects. From the mid 60s until the early 2000s, he founded and managed Bobeck Real Estate. Amongst his national brokerage and investment activities, Duane developed two large local retail projects in Fort Wayne (Jefferson Pointe and Covington Plaza) and an award-winning condominium development (Covington Creek). Duane was very influential in the expansion of the southwest Fort Wayne area.

Duane was actively involved in the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce and served as a board member for the local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter. He particularly enjoyed both his time as a guest lecturer for the IU Real Estate School and his collaboration with the Wharton School of Real Estate Council at University of Pennsylvania. Duane always took the frequent opportunity to informally mentor others interested in real estate and development. Duane was nominated to join and was an active member of the Defense Orientation Conference Association (DOCA) for many years. He greatly enjoyed traveling with the other national civic and business leaders dedicated to continuing education on defense, foreign policy, and national security affairs, all personal passions. For decades, Duane was active in supporting both local and national political candidates and conservative causes.

Beginning in 2000, Duane and his wife, Janis began spending much of their time in St. Croix, USVI. They became active in the St. Croix Foundation and Duane was an integral part of the revitalization / redevelopment efforts in downtown Christiansted through his vision, leadership and investments. When they arrived to St. Croix, Duane and Janis enjoyed many years exploring the Caribbean Sea aboard their boat, Passport while building their seaside home. Duane continued his investing and aviation passions through regular local pilot meetings and the St Croix Investment Club.

Duane married Janis Kay (Mitchell) in 1965 and the family recently celebrated their 56th anniversary together. Duane is survived by his loving wife, Janis; his children, Peter (Alona) Bobeck of Fort Wayne, IN; Suzannah (Andrew) Dubuque of Locust Valley, NY; grandchildren, Lera, Anika, Briggs, Vasco, Margot and Adelia.

The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to a charity of their choice in Duane’s name.

There will be private family church and internment services followed by an outdoor reception for those who wish to share sympathies and condolences. Please contact D.O. McCombs and Sons – Covington Knolls Funeral Home for information regarding the outdoor reception at 260-426-1881 or 260-426-9494.