Gerald Dubie

Mar 10, 1940 -

Feb 17, 2023

Gerald Dubie died unexpectedly from an aortic rupture at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, on Feb. 17, 2023. This sudden passing has left many broken hearts in many places. There will be fewer Dubie hugs, fewer complements, fewer stories. But there are memories, good ones, that remind us of our special times with him, with his generous, loving spirit.

Gerry was born and raised in Hamtramck, Mich., a small, mostly Slavic city in the middle of Detroit. His mother Catherine Kadziewicz came from Poland and Polish was Gerry's first language. They were very poor, and his early life was difficult. But Gerry found support from all his teachers in the public schools. He was smart and worked hard and graduated valedictorian from Hamtramck High School.

Gerry was also competitive, striving to do the best he could. At 10 years he won a yo-yo contest and the internationally famous tennis coach Jean Hoxie, who also taught physical education at his grade school, Pulaski, noticed and said, "I could help you be a tennis champ." And she did. And he was!

Gerry won many local, high school, state, regional, national, international and collegiate tennis tournaments through the 1950s and into the 1960s. He and Rod Laver teamed up to win a junior Canadian National Championship. University of Michigan recruited him on a tennis and academic scholarship where he was captain of the Big10 Champion team, was two-time All-American player and was inducted into the junior and senior honorary fraternities at the university.

Gerry's tennis partner Kenneth Mike introduced Gerry to his sister Beverly in Ann Arbor, Mich. It didn't take long before they got married, in 1964, and stayed married for 58-plus years. Gerry, Beverly and Ken moved to Anchorage in 1966 to teach for two years as an adventure. The Dubie's stayed and agreed it was the best decision they made.

Gerry followed coach Hoxie's advice to use tennis as a path to a fulfilled life. Teaching was his gift. He taught math and science and economics to students at Hamtramck High School, and in Anchorage at Wendler Junior High, Dimond High, Anchorage Community College and the University of Alaska. He coached basketball and started most tennis programs in the city, first at the park strip courts in 1967 and later at the racquet clubs. He continued winning tournaments in Anchorage. Former students say Gerry changed their lives for the better.

After teaching Gerry became Manager of Materiel Operations at the Alaska Court System and was involved in the building and maintenance of court buildings across the state and was responsible for completion of multiple special projects.

Gerry designed and built with his family and experienced friends a cabin at Kasitsna Bay across from Homer, Alaska, where friends gathered each summer on the beach in front of his fire to roast marshmallows and laugh and enjoy each other in this beautiful place.

Gerry was an artist, winning honorable mention at one of Alaska's first juried art shows. He was Sir Thomas More in an Anchorage theatre production of Man for All Seasons. He wrote poetry. He was a problem solver, a reader and attacked crossword puzzles by the thousands.

He tried his best "to connect" as E.M. Forster says in the novel Howard's End: with the gifts God granted him, with his family, his friends, his students, the worker at the grocery store.

Gerry would encourage all of us to do the same.

Gerry was preceded in death by his daughter, Alexandra Dubie; parents; and siblings. Surviving Gerry is his wife, Beverly and son Aaron; niece, Nancy Reid (Randy, son Kanoa); brother and sisters-in-law, Kenneth Mike and Marilee Marchese and Dusan and Deborah Shiposh; nieces and nephews, Bryan (Julie), Katrina (Matt), Neal (Melissa) and their children; goddaughter, Verity Marie Pendergast; and his abundant loving friends in Alaska and across the globe.

A Mass of the Resurrection will be held at St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton Church in Anchorage, on March 30, 2023, at 4 p.m. Reception will follow at the church.

The mass will be recorded and can be accessed live Alaska time or on YouTube later using this streaming key: https://youtube.com/live/gdW59-FzP10.

Gerry's life will also be celebrated at a gathering after the burial at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery in summer 2023. Date to be announced.

You are welcome to share your memories by visiting Janssen Funeral Homes obituary webpage.