Gene Tubach

Eugene ‘Gene’ C. Tubach, 91, passed away at his home in El Centro, CA, on Tuesday, July 2, 2013, surrounded by family members.

He was born in Falls City April 14, 1922, to Herman and Anna Tubach.

Gene grew up on a farm and attended a trade school in Falls City during his high school years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in education from UCLA.  

On Dec. 12, 1945, he married Dorothy Lou Ellen Metzner, also from Falls City.  

After graduating from ASU, Gene built a house in Kingman, AZ, and started his teaching career. He moved to the Imperial Valley and began teaching at Central Union High School in 1953. In 1963 he moved to Wilson Junior High School, where he served as both the vice principal and principal. In 1971 he returned to the high school as the principal and held that position until 1979. He continued to teach drafting classes until retiring from teaching in 1983.

After retiring from teaching he worked for the Office of the State Architect, inspecting the construction of the Martin Luther King Elementary School in El Centro and a laboratory building at the University of California Desert Research & Extension Center. He also supervised the building of the Tyler Building at the First Christian Church in El Centro.  

Gene built seven homes in the Imperial Valley. He was active in the First United Methodist Church in El Centro, served as a trustee and maintained the church facilities. He was also active in Kiwanis, the Imperial County Pioneers Park Museum, the Calexico Neighborhood House and Valley 4-H programs. In retirement he volunteered as a docent at the Pioneers Museum.

One of his greatest joys was hosting a family reunion every President’s Day weekend for the past 40 years.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; children, June (Tony) Fraze, Las Vegas, Gary and Roger, El Centro, and Roy, Salinas; a grandson; two great-grandchildren; brother, Jim Tubach, Manhattan, KS, sisters-in-law, Betty Jane Tubach and Mary Ann Metzner, both Falls City, and many nephews and nieces.

A memorial will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 20, at the First United Methodist Church in El Centro.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the First United Methodist Church, the Imperial Valley Historical Society Pioneers Park Museum or the Kiwanis Scholarship Fund.

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