From Diana Vance

Monroe

To the Editor:

Bill Hubbard was our neighbor for many wonderful years. His two girls played with our two girls almost every day. Bill was a well-liked, popular physical education teacher. He was popular with the kids and also with their parents. He was a very down to earth fellow who liked sports very much. He umpired baseball in the summers at Recreation Park ball field.

He and his wife, Marilyn, were friends with us and our other neighbor at that time, Dave and Mary Deininger. All six of us became interested in cross country skiing. So, we would go up near Lake Minocqua and stay at Mary and Dave’s cabin and go out skiing for the day. My husband Larry and me were perhaps the least talented at cross country skiing. One time he was skiing very fast and when he saw the highway was near, he grabbed onto a light pole that Marilyn was hanging onto and they crashed into the snow. We all got a kick out of their adventure when they found the rest of us.

That probably was the most fun — laughing and enjoying each other. In the summer we all would go up to cabins on the lake with one or another child with us. One year was our daughter Chris, and her son Celyn who was about age two. The next few years we brought our son, Keith, up and he would bring a friend of his along. Steve Flanagan was one and Matt Inman was another. We would all be together at meals which was great. Everybody got along and we did this for many years. And we would watch everybody water ski.

The reason I am writing about this is that Bill Hubbard passed away today (Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021) He was a good friend, father and husband. And a very good teacher. But now he can join Marilyn who died several years ago. But he left us with good, solid memories of all the things the three of us couples and our kids did for many years. Bill is a great example of what a person should be like. He loved his family, Marilyn, Jill and Gail and his grandchildren. He was good to his friends. And he was good to the students because he taught them to enjoy being active. And he loved his parents, his brother and his sister. And he was respected and liked by his co-workers. He was definitely an individual but he had empathy. He was easy to be around and yet he had his own opinions. But he did not shove them down anyone’s throat. Bill would rather beat you at volleyball. He was a great guy.