Jeanne Enid (Luthman) Derbeck

Jul 14, 1920 - Dec 12,1994

SOUTH BEND Jeanne E. Derbeck, The Tribune's longtime arts writer and founder of the newspaper's Action Line column, was found dead of natural causes in her apartment Monday. She was 74. Ms. Derbeck, of Rue Renoir, retired in 1988 from the newspaper after 21 years of service.

In retirement, she continued to write about the arts for The Tribune. She was born July 14, 1920, in South Bend. She was a 1937 graduate of Riley High School. She worked as a secretary in California, Chicago and South Bend before earning a bachelor's degree at Indiana University South Bend in 1969 and a master's degree in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1971.

Ms. Derbeck joined The Tribune in 1967 as a proofreader and then served as an obituary writer. She became a reporter in 1970, covering the women's movement, historic preservation and urban redevelopment issues. In 1971, she started the Action Line consumer advice column. She served for a time as the newspaper's Youth Page editor. Over the years, Ms. Derbeck won many writing awards from the Indiana Associated Press Managing Editors Association, the Women's Press Club of Indiana and' other professional organizations. In 1976, she received a distinguished service award from the Indiana Public Health Association for a series on the investigation of restaurant kitchens. She also won a first-place APME community affairs award for the series.

In 1986, she received the Woman of Achievement Award from the local chapter of Hands Across America. The award was presented to honor Ms. Derbeck's accomplishments as a local woman in the communications field. Ms. Derbeck was a member of the South Bend Press Club, the Northern Indiana Historical Society and the Women's Art League.

She is survived by a daughter, Patricia.

Services are being arranged. 

The South Bend Tribune South Bend, IN, 13 Dec 1994

Sources: Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and FindAGrave.com

11/10/2026 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30906019/jeanne-enid-derbeck