Obituary of Robert B. Lubbers

~~OBITUARY FOR ROBERT BARTOW LUBBERS

Robert Bartow Lubbers, 95, of Manhasset died peacefully in his sleep at home on July 8, 2017.  He was predeceased by his wife, Grace Oestreich Lubbers in, 2000 and his brother, Edward S. Lubbers, in 2014, and is survived by his wife of 13 years, Sieglinde Konrad Lubbers; his son and daughter-in-law, Robert Winters Lubbers and Ruth Becker Lubbers; his daughter, Wendy Bartow Lubbers; his grandson, Richard H. Melichar, Jr. and his wife Megan Rendace Melichar, and his great grandson, Michael Robert Melichar.

Bob was in the first graduating class of Manhasset High School in 1939 when it opened and he played football, lacrosse and played trombone in the school band.  He became a cartoonist when he was commissioned by Wright’s Hardware to do a weekly cartoon in the Manhasset Mail.  After that, his cartooning took off, and he had done many comic books when he was called to war in the United States Air Force Air Transport Command in 1943 and served in WWII until the war ended in 1945 and he returned home.  Back in civilian life he did comics and comic strips, best known for his work on Tarzan, Li’l Abner, Long Sam, Secret Agent X-9 and Robin Malone.  Later he broke into the field of animatics for television ad agencies, and even later than that he began creating crossword puzzles for Newsday and the NY Times Sunday puzzle, where he won an award for best Sunday crossword in 1995 – his first attempt at cross wording. 
Bob was involved as a coach for PBC football and lacrosse, wrote and illustrated the PBC playbook, and created the Manhasset High School Indian that is still used today on the band’s drums.
He joined North Hempstead Country Club in 1960 where he played golf, watched his kids swim and was a proud member until his death.  He was also a member of Port Washington Yacht Club for many years. 
Bob Lubbers has been an icon in Manhasset for many years, even having several of his articles on the good old days in Manhasset published in the Manhasset Press, and he will be sorely missed by the Manhasset community. 
Viewing will be at Fairchild’s Funeral Home on Northern Boulevard, Manhasset on Tuesday, July 11th from 3-5pm and 7-9pm .  A service will be held at the Lutheran Church in Manhasset on Wednesday, July 12 at 10am followed by internment at Nassau Knolls Cemetery in Port Washington.