Deceased June 8, 1998

View alumni profile (log in required)

In Memory

Charles Duffy Cobau Jr., son of Charles Duffy ’52 and grandson of William Duffy ’24, attorney-at-law, died suddenly and tragically of a heart of attack on June 9, 1998.           

Duffy, as he was known by his Amherst classmates, many friends and family members, was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Ottawa Hill (Ohio) High School in 1972. While at Amherst, Duffy was a member of Chi Phi. He admired President John William Ward and witnessed the co-education of Amherst. He became interested in and proficient at squash, a sport he would enjoy for the rest of his life. Following graduation from Amherst, he earned a law degree from Case Western Law School in 1979 and entered private practice in Toledo and Perrysburg, Ohio, in 1980. He was a member of the American, Toledo and Ohio Bar Associations and the author of a distributed handbook concerning landlord-tenant relationships entitled Eviction Procedures in Ohio and Property Rights on the Maumee River. He was the acting director of the ACLU of Northwest Ohio in 1981 and a member of the Downtown Business Association and the Perrysburg Chamber of Commerce.

Duffy married Gene Penelope Karabedian (Duke ’79) in 1983, and together they were faithful members of St. Michael’s in the Hills Episcopal Church in Toledo, Ohio. Duffy was a member of the choir and an accomplished pianist and organist and would frequently perform for services and special occasions. He became a member of the American Guild of Organists. He was den leader for the Cub Scout troop of which his son was a member. He greatly enjoyed many outdoor sports including camping, canoeing, sailing, fishing and tennis. He was an expert skier who enjoyed the prospect of teaching his sons how to ski.

Duffy is survived by Penny, his loving wife of 15 years; two children, Daniel, 9, and Thomas, 4; and his parents, Edna Cobau Taylor and Charles Duffy Cobau; and by his brothers Henry and Edward. The sorrow of Duffy’s untimely death is also shared by his many friends and Amherst classmates.

Charles Cobau ’52