Kenneth William Lubich, 75, of Lake Tomahawk, Wis., died peacefully at Marshfield Medical Center-Weston on March 12, 2025.
Ken was born on Feb. 4, 1950 in River Falls, Wis. to Hartland and Rhoda Lubich. He attended the Ames Teacher Education/Laboratory School at University of Wisconsin-River Falls, which allowed him to joke that he started college at age 5, and was a class of 1968 graduate of River Falls High School.
In August 1969 he was drafted into the United States Army and deployed to Vietnam. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for Heroism for actions on May 12, 1970 while serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry in Cambodia. On this date he was subjected to intense fire from an enemy force and during the course of the action he was seriously wounded. He was also awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
After his military service, he earned a bachelor’s degree in soil science from UWRF and in 1974 started working for the USDA’s Soil Conservation Service (later called the Natural Resource Conservation Service) in Manitowoc, Rhinelander, and Spooner and eventually rose to the rank of Wisconsin State Soil Scientist. He concluded his career in Washington, DC as Program Manager, Soil Survey Division for the NRCS and retired after 33 years as a devoted public servant.
Ken married Joanne Deusterman on Aug. 24, 1974 and together they raised two daughters, Jamie and Lisa. After his retirement, Ken and Joanne returned to Wisconsin, built a home on Two Sisters Lake and began living there year-round starting in 2015. They have been active members of the lake association and enjoyed hosting visitors and traveling together and with friends.
Throughout his life, Ken was an avid hunter, skilled gardener, and enthusiastic home winemaker. He loved nothing more than spending time outdoors, especially on and around the lakes in the Madison area and throughout the state, where he shared the joys of fishing and taught countless children and adults how to water ski. He was a life member of the Knights of Columbus, and served as Grand Knight of Councils in Spooner, Verona, and Woodruff.
Ken is survived by his wife Joanne Lubich, his daughter Jamie Hartman and son-in-law Richard, son-in-law Patrick Neuman and Patrick’s wife Stacey and children Zoey, Parker, and Mia. Ken is also survived by his sisters Marcella (Jerome) Rodewald, Ida (Stephen) Feyereisen, Julia Cernohous, and Barbara (Malcom) Bielsen, his brothers Daniel (Jean) Lubich, Mark (Sherry) Lubich, and Gerald (Cinda) Lubich, and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his daughter Lisa Neuman, his partners, and his sister Patricia Lubich.
Ken’s funeral mass was at Holy Family Catholic Church in Woodruff, Wis. on March 21, 2025 with internment at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Madison, Wis.
