Hobart Luppi
April 12, 1923 – September 1, 2021
Hobart Luppi, 98, WWII aviator, FBI agent, U.S. diplomat, and, in retirement, a “gentleman farmer,” passed away on Sept. 1, 2021, in Tarzana, Calif. Hobart was born April 12, 1923, to Mary (Godino) and Neoclite Luppi in Hamden, Conn., later moving to nearby West Haven, where he grew up during the depression with his older brother Abdon and his younger brother Howard, who was born 16 months after Hobart and with whom he maintained a close relationship. His father, an immigrant from Italy, was a successful businessman until the financial collapse of 1929. At age 9, Hobart took on an early morning paper route, delivering papers on his bicycle, often sharing his earnings with his mother to help put food on the table, before going to school each day, where he excelled academically. Hobart was, by nature, confident, self-reliant and a perfectionist, who was intent on rising above the poor circumstances his family endured during the depression. After graduating high school, he joined the Navy to train as a fighter pilot, flying the famed TBF Avenger aircraft, and received his commission to lieutenant.
After successfully completing training, he was assigned to the Pacific Theater but the war in the Pacific effectively ended two weeks later on August 6, 1945, and his assignment was cancelled. Hobart was offered a captain’s commission to become an aviator instructor but chose to leave the Navy to attend college on the G.I. bill at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a member of the Sigma Epsilon fraternity, majored in economics and enjoyed campus life. Immediately after graduating in 1948, Hobart joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was assigned to offices in Idaho where he met Claudine Pearson of Lewiston, Idaho. They married in 1950, two weeks before they departed for Hobart’s new FBI assignment in Chicago.
Reflecting their mutual desire to travel and see the world, Hobart subsequently joined the US Department of State, initially as the senior regional security officer at the embassy in Cairo, Egypt. After successfully completing the US Foreign Service exam, he joined the US Foreign Service as an economics officer, assigned to the embassy in New Delhi, India, where he served under Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith. Hobart focused on the South Asian subcontinent as his specialty, studying Hindi on a daily basis, becoming fluent in both the spoken language and in the written Devanagari alphabet.
He later achieved fluency in spoken Urdu during assignments to Pakistan, first as the U.S. consul general in Karachi from 1970 to 1972 and later as the deputy chief of mission to the embassy in Islamabad from 1973 to 1976. In between assignments, the family of six lived in Northern Virginia, primarily Loudoun County, where Hobart took up horseback riding, which became a favorite pastime.
Hobart and Claudine divorced in 1977, prior to his last diplomatic assignment as the U.S. consul general in Vancouver, Canada, where, in addition to his work overseeing a busy consular affairs office, he enjoyed riding horses at the polo grounds, community dances and playing tennis. Hobart formally retired in 1980, and, upon returning to Loudoun County, purchased an old farmhouse in Lovettsville, where he raised horses, teaching himself (and the horses) the art of dressage riding. Enjoying life in the country, farming, horses and the process of renovating old farmhouses, he bought, and later sold, two more old farmhouses near Hagerstown, Maryland, before relocating to Sarasota, Florida, and, subsequently, to the Kings Point retirement community in Sun City Center, Florida.
Hobart also owned a small farm in Arcadia, Fla., where he continued to ride horses until his mid-80’s and kept a herd of cattle. He was happiest when working on his farm, bush-hogging the tall grass, feeding apples to his bull, repairing fences and being with his beloved horses. Hobart also enjoyed life in Sun City Center and, at age 98, could still be seen driving his Ford pickup through town. Hobart spent the last few months of his life in Tarzana, Calif., before passing away from an undiagnosed infection that resulted in sepsis and kidney failure. Hobart is survived by his son, Mark (Eveline) Luppi; and daughters, Mary (Anthony) Basich and Ann (Peter, deceased) von Mehren; and his six grandchildren. Services will be held at a later date when he can be buried next to his son Brian, who predeceased him in 1973, at Hillsboro Cemetery in Loudoun County, Va.
After successfully completing training, he was assigned to the Pacific Theater but the war in the Pacific effectively ended two weeks later on August 6, 1945, and his assignment was cancelled. Hobart was offered a captain’s commission to become an aviator instructor but chose to leave the Navy to attend college on the G.I. bill at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a member of the Sigma Epsilon fraternity, majored in economics and enjoyed campus life. Immediately after graduating in 1948, Hobart joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was assigned to offices in Idaho where he met Claudine Pearson of Lewiston, Idaho. They married in 1950, two weeks before they departed for Hobart’s new FBI assignment in Chicago.
Reflecting their mutual desire to travel and see the world, Hobart subsequently joined the US Department of State, initially as the senior regional security officer at the embassy in Cairo, Egypt. After successfully completing the US Foreign Service exam, he joined the US Foreign Service as an economics officer, assigned to the embassy in New Delhi, India, where he served under Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith. Hobart focused on the South Asian subcontinent as his specialty, studying Hindi on a daily basis, becoming fluent in both the spoken language and in the written Devanagari alphabet.
He later achieved fluency in spoken Urdu during assignments to Pakistan, first as the U.S. consul general in Karachi from 1970 to 1972 and later as the deputy chief of mission to the embassy in Islamabad from 1973 to 1976. In between assignments, the family of six lived in Northern Virginia, primarily Loudoun County, where Hobart took up horseback riding, which became a favorite pastime.
Hobart and Claudine divorced in 1977, prior to his last diplomatic assignment as the U.S. consul general in Vancouver, Canada, where, in addition to his work overseeing a busy consular affairs office, he enjoyed riding horses at the polo grounds, community dances and playing tennis. Hobart formally retired in 1980, and, upon returning to Loudoun County, purchased an old farmhouse in Lovettsville, where he raised horses, teaching himself (and the horses) the art of dressage riding. Enjoying life in the country, farming, horses and the process of renovating old farmhouses, he bought, and later sold, two more old farmhouses near Hagerstown, Maryland, before relocating to Sarasota, Florida, and, subsequently, to the Kings Point retirement community in Sun City Center, Florida.
Hobart also owned a small farm in Arcadia, Fla., where he continued to ride horses until his mid-80’s and kept a herd of cattle. He was happiest when working on his farm, bush-hogging the tall grass, feeding apples to his bull, repairing fences and being with his beloved horses. Hobart also enjoyed life in Sun City Center and, at age 98, could still be seen driving his Ford pickup through town. Hobart spent the last few months of his life in Tarzana, Calif., before passing away from an undiagnosed infection that resulted in sepsis and kidney failure. Hobart is survived by his son, Mark (Eveline) Luppi; and daughters, Mary (Anthony) Basich and Ann (Peter, deceased) von Mehren; and his six grandchildren. Services will be held at a later date when he can be buried next to his son Brian, who predeceased him in 1973, at Hillsboro Cemetery in Loudoun County, Va.