Herbert Hoene

Herbert Bernard Hoene, beloved husband and father, Duluth civic, business and real estate leader, writer, poet, publisher, editor, television pioneer, athlete, religious volunteer, and youth coach died on Christmas Day, December 25, 2012 at St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth, MN, after complications from a lengthy illness; he was 83 years of age.
Herbert Hoene is preceded in death by his parents Arthur and Vera, his brothers Howard, Arthur Jr., John, Phillip, Robert, Thomas, William, Richard, and sisters, Helen June Petersen and Mary Grace Campbell, daughter, Mary Hoene Gilligan, and dear family friend, Mary E. Grooms.
He is survived by his spouse of 57 years, Barbara Dillon Hoene, daughters Sarah Serre of Duluth, Jeanne (Robert) Fayfield of Wayzata, MN, Diane (Miles) Madden of Watertown, SD, Martha (Lawrence) Dabrow of North Tustin, CA, and son George (Jill) of Bloomington MN, Tom Serre of Duluth, 14 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, a brother David Hoene, of Boise, ID, numerous cousins, nephews and nieces, and many treasured friends.
He was a life-long Duluth resident, a parishioner, volunteer and lay leader at the Cathedral of the Holy Rosary parish. He was noted for his willingness to volunteer for the needy, serving many meals at both the Damiano Center and the Union Gospel Mission, and for his civic committee work, most notably with the Duluth Jaycees, and coaching youth hockey at the Longview Hockey Club. He enjoyed classical music and choral music supporting the Duluth Symphony Orchestra, and volunteering to sing with the Duluth Symphony Chorus many times.
He was born to Arthur C. and Vera Vollmar Hoene on January 15, 1929, as the 12th of 12 children. After grade school at Holy Rosary, high school at Duluth Cathedral, he followed four of his brothers and attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, on an academic and tennis scholarship, and served as tennis team co-captain for two years; Herb graduated in 1951 with a B. A. degree, majoring in English, with a minor in Philosophy and completed coursework toward a M.A. degree. At Notre Dame he was editor of the Juggler, a publication of student literary works and art design, which included many of his short stories and poems, the Wranglers, a philosophy club, and the Monogram Club, as multi-year athletic letter winner.
After college he was accepted into the advanced management training program for Montgomery Ward & Company, but left in 1954 to accept a position in the new medium of television as a commercial copy writer for KDAL TV - Ch. 3 as a writer/editor of live television commercials. This work led to an opportunity as an editor with the Duluth-based Ojibwa Press in 1960, which had started to create and edit commercial trade publications. He left Ojibwa Press in 1964 to start his own company, Superior Publications, which produced the aviation periodical magazine, The Light Plane Guide, and the weekly air force newspaper, Duluth Skywatch, and created promotional work for the newly opened Sugar Hills Ski Resort and Sugar Lake Lodge on Siseebakwet (Sugar) Lake in Grand Rapids, MN. He closed his publishing company when the Duluth Air Force Base changed its mission. His work in real estate brokerage started in 1967 with Stephenson & Company, where he earned many top sales achievements. He went on to start his own real estate brokerage company, H.B. Hoene & Company, in 1976 where he worked until his retirement in 2003. While at H. B. Hoene & Company he was elected president of the Duluth Area Association of Realtors in 1983 and 1984, also serving on its numerous committees from 1967 to 1986.
At the Cathedral parish he served as a catechist/religious education teacher, lector, altar server, and a long-term member of many of its choirs. He served many terms on the Parish Council, including a term as its chair. At Holy Rosary School he was president of the Home & School Association. He supported Birthright and the Lake Superior Life Care Center. He was a former member of the Serra Club.
He was a civic leader serving as an officer and committee member of the Duluth Jaycees which founded the Duluth Fall Festival of the 1950's and 1960's. He enjoyed coaching youth hockey for 10 years at the Longview Rink, where he was also its club president.
As an athlete he learned to both skate and play tennis at Longview Rink/Courts in east Duluth. He won both the Arrowhead Invitational Tennis Tournament in single and doubles, as well at the Northern Open Tennis Tournament, as a junior, senior and junior veteran player, amongst many other local and State championships. In addition to tennis, Herb played high school football and hockey for the Duluth Cathedral Hilltoppers. During World War II he also played for various hockey teams in the Duluth Industrial League. He joined the Duluth Curling Club, and as a member of the Oscar Ulvang Rink, they won the Club Championship in 1954, scoring in one draw, a rare 8-ender.
He was an avid pilot, owning and piloting a Piper J-3 Cub on floats, taking numerous grouse hunting and fishing trips to northern Minnesota lakes. He enjoyed sailing his 26-foot sloop "Windhover" on Lake Superior. He enjoyed duck and goose hunting and travelled the northern United States and Canadian Prairie Provinces in pursuit of the flocks.
The family is especially grateful and thankful to all the wonderful, caring people who attended Herb so well prior to his death; in particular, Dr. John Van Etta, Dr. Sandy Popham, and Dr. Joseph Martinelli, the staff at Duluth Kidney Services, and his many generous and loving friends and family members.

Visitation will be Wednesday beginning at 5pm with Eulogy's at 6pm and Wake Prayers at 7pm in the Dougherty Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial will be 11am Thursday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, 2801 E 4th St. Duluth, MN. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers any memorials are asked to be sent to: Holy Rosary School, 2802 East 4th Street, Duluth, MN 55812. Arrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home, 600 E 2nd St., Duluth, MN 55805, (218) 727-3555.