Kenneth John Shubick

Kenneth John Shubick of Columbus, Ohio passed away January 27, 2021 at the age of 59. Known to his friends and family as "that great guy," full of good spirits and sharp wit, Ken served in the U.S. Navy for eleven years first as a signalman and later as a Quartermaster First Class (1st class Petty Officer) aboard three Navy fighting ships. He saw combat action in the first Persian Gulf War in 1991 and was repeatedly recognized by his superiors as an outstanding navigator.

In November of 1983, while part of the crew of the destroyer USS Conyngham, Ken Shubick participated in an at-sea rescue of the crew of a distressed sailboat in a Caribbean storm with 40 knot winds and 14 to 18-foot-high seas in the night season. As part of a volunteer whaleboat rescue squad, Ken used his remarkable throwing arm (91 mph while still a high school teenager years earlier) to heave a "monkey fist" lead line over the bow of the sailboat to secure it and effect the rescue of its private citizen crew. For this action, Ken was awarded an Admiral's Commendation for peacetime bravery in 1984.

Ken Shubick later served a decade as a U.S. Merchant Marine officer on oil tankers and container ships, eventually reaching the position of Ships' Captain. Ken liked to brag that in all his years as an oil tanker officer he, "never spilled a drop!"

Ken lettered in football at Fairmont East High School in Kettering, Ohio and later attended The Ohio State University in Columbus.

More than one of Ken's later-life employers referred to him as, "the best salesman we ever had." He leaves behind a son, Capt. Nathan W. Shubick of the US Marine Corps, now stationed in Yuma, Arizona; a father, Herbert J. Shubick of Montville, Ohio; two aunts, Sue Hammond of Bancroft, Michigan and Carol Vargo of Burton, Michigan; an uncle, William H. Shubick, Jr. of New York City; and numerous cousins in Ohio, Michigan, Idaho and Japan. He was preceded in death by his mother, Elinor Mae (Scroggins) Shubick of Cleveland, Ohio and a brother, Mark Alan Shubick of Columbus, Ohio.

Private family memorial services will be held at SCHOEDINGER MIDTOWN in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, and will be webcast on schoedinger.com for 45 days thereafter. A military funeral service will be held at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Flint, Michigan sometime in May, 2021.

Donations in Ken Shubick's memory may be made to the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation, 4210 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago, Illinois 60641