MRS. PHILIP HUBBARD WRITES TO WC'ERS ABOUT HER HUSBAND:

Bonnie writes that Mrs. Hubbard has opted to share some fond memories with all of us. Do enjoy, and respond to her at will. Her e-mail is hubbardo at woh dot rr dot com
Thank you, Mrs. H. (The email address has been added phonetically to aviod data miners)

---And there you have it! More at 11--- B
-------Original Message-------

From: Jean Hubbard
Date: 01/26/06 14:56:22
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 9:06 AM
Subject: mr. hubbard
hello, murl huffman asked me to write you a little about your social studies teacher, philip hubbard. i am his widow and of course have many fond memories, perhaps you would like me to share some.

the first memory is his pleasure whenever we went to the mall and we would see former students. invariably they would come over to see us, greet phil enthusiastically, and share with us what was going on in their lives. it was fun to hear their successes and feel their happiness at being able to share it with mr hubbard.

phil and murl and the other social studies teachers had a unique relationship of mutual respect and professionalism which i always admired. they could work through the knottiest issues and still be friends at the end of the day, a tribute to all of them together and as individuals. i got the impression that his students knew that also and were better people for having had that model to follow in their lives.

after he retired in 1986 he sold men's suits at poley's and at the union in town and country and he did some substitute teaching at beavercreek and kettering. he said he had to role model getting up and going to work because we still had a middle schooler at home and he needed to see that.

he also continued his life-long admiration of the character of george washington by researching where he stayed everyday during the american revolution. he started in books and graduated to pamphlets and hometown traditions available at libraries, historical societies, and town halls. first it was lots of letters and then he discovered the net and did a lot research via the net. he found a location about 10 days before he died that he had not known before, he remained interested right up until he died.

the challenge was that washington did not keep a diary and often did not disclose his exact location. one reason was that the army was on the move. a second reason was that both sides had spies and he did not wish to give away important strategic information. also, in hot weather they would start out the days march at 2 or 4 in the morning, and then rest the soldiers in the heat of the day. many times he camped on someone's lawn in his marquee (a huge tent) rather than staying in the house. but there were also homes he took over for months, such at valley forge and morristown new jersey.

our family vacations always included visiting a place that washington had visited. the kids could tell you many stories about being all over the east and never vacationing west of the mississippi. it made for an interesting set of memories.

phil had a stroke three years ago that caused sufficient damage that he could not drive anymore. he had been on coumadin since 1991 because of an artificial heart valve and ultimately his body could not handle the coumadin anymore. he was hospitalized in the fall of 2005 for a month and the first month home was rough on both of us. but then we had a sweet spot, 5 or 6 weeks that were very special. all the kids were home for christmas and he went home very peacefully.

during the years after he retired he drew closer to the lord. he studied the bible more that he ever had, taught a men's group on saturday mornings up at the church, and prayed a lot for the people around us whom he felt the need to lift up. he said he was studying for the final exam, a saying that was not original with him but that he loved.

he belonged to the optimist club, loved to play bridge and euchre, loved to read mysteries and of course his research project into the life of washington. he had done some work on lincoln, and a little on theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson, but washington was his first love.

he loved coming to class reunions. several classes invited him, including one down at mason where he taught 2 years before coming to west carrollton. we also went to his own 50th reunion back at west springfield, mass.

you can visit remembrances on the web at legacy.com and newcomerfamily.com.

thanks for listening, it's fun to talk about phil and remember with you some of his interests and activities.

jean hubbard
(mrs philip m hubbard)
- posted by Mikey @ 4:50 PM