Dan Kubiak

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Daniel James Kubiak
Member of the
Texas House of Representatives
In office
1969–1983
Preceded byMilton J. Schiller
Succeeded byL. B. Kubiak
ConstituencyDistricts 27 and 36
In office
1991 – August 30, 1998
Preceded byL. B. Kubiak
Succeeded byCharles B. Jones
ConstituencyDistrict 13
Personal details
Born(1938-03-19)March 19, 1938
Reagan, Falls County
Texas, U.S.
DiedAugust 30, 1998(1998-08-30) (aged 60)
Rockdale, Milam County
Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseDivorced from Zana B. Kubiak (1993)
ChildrenKelly Dan Kubiak

Alyssa Lea Kubiak

Kody Earl Kubiak
Parent(s)John T. and Connie S. Kubiak
Alma materBlinn College

University of Texas at Austin
Midwestern State University

Georgetown University
OccupationBusinessman; Educator

Daniel James Kubiak (March 19, 1938 – August 30, 1998) was an educator and businessman from

public education
.

Background

Kubiak was the oldest of six children born in

Associate of Arts degree from Blinn College in Brenham in Washington County, Texas. Thereafter in 1962, he received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin, which he attended on a football scholarship. In 1968, he procured a Master of Education degree from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He also pursued graduate studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He later received a PhD in education from UT-Austin. From 1962 to 1963, he was a mathematics teacher and coach in Vernon, Texas, where he was also a semi-professional football player for the 1962 state champion Vernon Vikings. He then spent five years from 1963 to 1968 at Cypress-Fairbanks High School in Houston. In 1967, he received "Teacher of the Year" designation from both Cypress-Fairbanks High School and the Texas State Teachers Association.[2][3]

Legislative years

Initially, Kubiak was elected to the legislature in 1968 from District 27, when he unseated an incumbent Democrat in the

George Herbert Walker Bush. In 1972, after redistricting, Kubiak defeated an incumbent Democrat in District 36, which included Waller, Washington, Milam, and Robertson counties. He was also reelected in District 36 in 1974, 1976, 1978, and 1980.[4]

After his seventh term in the state House, Kubiak lost a Democratic primary race for Texas land commissioner to

John G. Tower. During the 1980s, Kubiak devoted much of his energy to real estate, farming, and construction projects.[2]

In 1990, L. B. Kubiak did not seek reelection, and Dan Kubiak was instead elected to the state House from District 13, which then included Milam, Robertson, Washington and Waller counties. He was reelected in 1992, 1994 and 1996.[4] In 1992, District 13 was significantly redrawn to include Austin, Brazos, Burleson, and Lee counties as well as the continuing Milam and Washington counties. In 1992, as a Bill Clinton supporter, Kubiak won narrowly, 52 to 48 percent over the Brenham Republican Robert Mikeska, who fared particularly well in Washington and Austin counties in the southern end of the district. Thereafter, Kubiak devoted greater time and attention to those counties and won them both in 1996 over the Republican James Hartley. However, the margin in Austin County was a mere thirty-one votes.[6][unreliable source?]

Death and legacy

Kubiak died in 1998 of cardiovascular disease at the age of 60 at his home in Rockdale, while he was again campaigning for reelection.[7] Oddly, his intraparty rival for land commissioner from 1982, Garry Mauro, headed the Democratic ticket that year in a failed effort to deny a second term to Republican Governor George W. Bush. L. B. Kubiak sought the nomination to succeed his brother, but the party chairmen in the district unanimously turned to Teddy Boehm of Brenham, the wife of a retired physician, Henry Boehm, who had served as chairman of the Blinn College trustees. L. B. Kubiak refused to support Mrs. Boehm and instead endorsed the Republican nominee, Charles B. Jones of College Station, who claimed the seat for the first time in the 20th century for the GOP.[6][unreliable source?] According to the Austin American-Statesman, Mrs. Boehm questioned L. B. Kubiak's endorsement: "I do wonder if Mr. Jones is such a supporter of Mr. [Dan] Kubiak's principles, why was he running against him?"[6][unreliable source?]

On learning of Kubiak's death, Speaker

Carlos Truan, a Corpus Christi Democrat and the dean of the Senate, described Kubiak as "a very, very dedicated legislator, particularly in the field of education."[6][unreliable source?
]

Kubiak monument at Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas

Books

In 1967, while he was still in the field of professional education, Kubiak published Ten Tall Texans, biographical sketches designed for juveniles and young adults taken from the period in Texas history from 1821 to 1845.

Juan Seguin, and William B. Travis.[9] An exhibit entitled Ten Tall Texans was established in 2008 at the Brenham Heritage Museum. It was loaned during 2009 to the Rockdale Depot Museum.[9] In 1984, Kubiak's book was republished by Eakin Publishers under the title Titans of Texas .[10]

In 1972, he published a second book, A Monument to a Black Man: The Biography of William Goyens, a study of the African American who served as an aide to Sam Houston and was a negotiator for Indian treaties.[11]

Death

A divorced father of three children, Kubiak died on August 30, 1998, and is interred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, as is the prerogative of all state lawmakers. His epitaph reads: "God's gift to us is life. What we do with that life is our gift back to Him."[12]

References

  1. ^ "Social Security Death Index". ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Daniel Kubiak". cemetery.state.tx.us. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. ^ The Texas State Cemetery bases its biography of Representative Kubiak on Mike Peck, "Services for Kubiak today in Rockdale", The Cameron Herald, September 3, 1998, and information supplied by the Kubiak family.
  4. ^ a b "Dan Kubiak". lrl.state.tx.us. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  5. ^ "L. B. Kubiak". lrl.state.tx.us. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Rockdale State Representative Dan Kubiak Memorial Page". fortumbleweed.net. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  7. ^ Cameron Herald, Cameron, Texas, September 3, 1998
  8. ^ Ten Tall Texans. Naylor Publishers. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Ten Tall Texans display presented (2009) at the Rockdale Depot Museum by the Rockdale Historical Society". rockdaledepot.com. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  10. OL 1049932M
    .
  11. ^ A Monument to a Black Man. blackpast.org. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  12. ^ Kubiak monument, Texas State Cemetery, Austin, Texas
Preceded by
Milton J. Schiller
 State Representative from Rockdale, Texas (Districts 27 and then 36)

Daniel James Kubiak
1969–1983

Succeeded by
Preceded by State Representative from Rockdale, Texas (District 13)

Daniel James Kubiak
1991–1998

Succeeded by
Charles B. Jones
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dan_Kubiak&oldid=1229673535"