Wednesday, June 1st, 1927 - Monday, February 17th, 2020
Duane D. (Swede) Leak was born June 1, 1927 and died Feb. 17, 2020 at the age of 92. If you believe that life should be lived as if you are creating a masterpiece painting, his was created with mostly broad and bold brush strokes and filled in with loving detail. His gift for storytelling served him well for sharing that masterpiece with family and friends throughout the years.
Duane’s early years were spent in Mingo and Colby and his stories of life in those ‘early’ days have entertained his children, grandchildren and friends for decades. He left Colby in his late teens to move to Montana where he spent several happy and hardworking years working with his aunt and uncle on their farm operation along the Teton River, giving him another reservoir from which to draw stories for years to come.
At the age of 19 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and spent his service years in Japan during the post WWII occupation working on railroad security during the rebuild of that war-torn country. Upon his return from serving his country, he married the love of his life, Dolores Price, in July 1952 and they shared 67 loving years of marriage together. To this union was born three children: Denny Lynn in 1953; DeAnn Kay in 1957 and Dalaina Sue in 1962.
Duane continued to ‘paint his masterpiece’ through his work in those years. He was employed as a delivery driver and salesman for Careful Cleaners and then the Northwest Kansas Coors Distributorships for several years. During that time, he met and created friendships with many people across the Tri-State area.
He then sold corn and milo seed for several companies, including Funks and Weathermaster, while owning and operating Swede’s Hamburger Inn in Colby. Those years were busy and full and often entertaining as he developed a large and loyal following for his cold beer, awesome chili and cheeseburgers and very homestyle brand of bartender wisdom.
He closed HBI in 1981 and took on another challenge as he accepted a position with Jacques Seed Company as their district sales manager for northwest Kansas. This job truly brought all his skills of getting to know people and helping them make good decisions with their farming practices into focus and he thrived in that sales environment for many years before retiring at the age of 65. Through all his years of work experience his driving force was that he truly enjoyed meeting and getting to know people.
Duane and Dolores enjoyed a long and wonderful retirement with several enjoyable trips early on and many beautiful memories made with family and friends at their “Summer Haven” cabin outside Bailey, Colo. He was also able to spend countless hours in his woodshop working on projects of all shapes and sizes. During his lifetime he was also an enthusiastic member and supporter of the Colby Volunteer Fire Department, the American Legion and the VFW.
Duane is survived by his wife Dolores; children Denny and wife Karen of Wrangell, Alaska; DeAnn and husband Jim Deibert of Colby; Dalaina and husband Shawn Alsup of Sterling, Colo.; as well as numerous grandchildren, step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of whom he treasured greatly.
Duane was one of those truly treasured people we get to meet in life who show us all how to ‘paint our world’ with bold strokes while filling in the spaces in between with love and wisdom worth listening for. He will be lovingly missed, with a smile, by all who knew him.
A memorial service will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020 at the Trinity Lutheran Church, Colby, with inurnment in Beulah Cemetery, Colby.
Memorials are suggested to the church, Colby American Legion or Colby Fire Department and can be sent in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For information or condolences visit www.baalmannmortuary.com.