Glen John Rubash, 69, of rural Geary County, Kansas, passed away on
Thursday, February 16, 2023. Cremation will take place and celebration
of life will be announced.
He was born on November 21, 1953, to Victor and Leala (Kingsley) Rubash of Bethel, Minnesota.
Glen
was a distance runner at Saint Francis High School in Minnesota. He
joined the United States Army in 1974 as a missile technician and
armored equipment mechanic. Glen served in combat in Nicaragua and
completed his enlistment at Fort Riley. He continued to serve in the
Army Reserve and National Guard until the early 1990s.
After leaving the
Army, he served his community as a professional firefighter for nearly
30 years with the Junction City Fire Department, JCFD. Glen was also a
volunteer with the Geary County Fire Department for more than 30 years
and continued to serve until his passing. After his retirement from
JCFD, he was employed at Milford Lake with the Kansas Department of
Wildlife, before becoming a facilities technician at Kansas State
University and again, retiring. As a hobby, Glen worked as a machinist
in the physics department machine shop - completing projects for the
physics labs, maintenance of facilities and the nuclear reactor.
As
an avid licensed amateur radio operator (KC0GPV), Glen served as an
operator for the Military Auxiliary Radio System, MARS, as part of a
national emergency response network and was a member of the Manhattan
Area Amateur Radio Society. He had a lifelong appreciation of all types
of music, from Wagner to Pink Floyd, and was known to have his music on
full blast echoing down the creek. Glen enjoyed dabbling in experimental
flight. Despite several crashes, beginning with a legendary set of
mishaps involving his father's gyrocopter, he persisted and finally
realized his dream of "sustained flight” with a recently acquired
paraglider. Glen was known to all as a beekeeper, gardener, welder,
tinkerer, and lover of animals.
On November 24, 1978, Glen
married Lindy Grant. They built a life (and their house) in the Flint
Hills, along the banks of Humboldt Creek. They welcomed three sons and a
series of mishaps would follow.
Glen is survived by his two
dogs, Winston (the rescued basset hound) and JoJo (a vet med beagle from
K-State); his loving wife, Lindy; his three sons, Caleb (Anne) Rubash
of rural Geary County, Kansas, Jonah (Julie) Rubash of southern
California, David (Jessica) Rubash of Toronto, Canada; three
grandchildren, Ivan, Victor, and Astrid; one brother, Lambert Rubash;
two nephews, Todd Dock and Steven Kummer; five nieces, Tricia Turrittin,
Susan Boline, Leslie Dock, Elan McMonigal, and Jennifer Flynn-Grant.
Glen is also survived by his lifelong and best friend AJ (Sandy) Ondrey
of Bethel, Minnesota.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his two sisters, Harriet Dock and Gail Farmer.