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Arthur Hilgard Rubeck died 13th of May, 2016. He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Nancy Jo Steele Rubeck, his son Thomas Steele Rubeck of Dallas, his daughter Janet Rubeck Shingleton of Illinois, and two grandsons, Robert and Blake Shingleton. Art was born December 5th, 1932, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the only son of Ruth Hilgard of Belleville, Illinois, and Arthur Morris Rubeck of Belvidere, Illinois. He attended schools in St. Louis, Jonesboro (Arkansas), and Fort Smith (Arkansas), where he graduated from high school in 1950. He attended Yale University from 1950 to 1952, then the University of Arkansas, where he graduated in 1954 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He immediately became employed by Chance Vought Aircraft in Dallas, working for that company and its successors (Ling-Temco-Vought then LTV) until his retirement in 1988, except for two years in the U. S. Army, serving in the Ordnance Guided Missile School in Huntsville, Alabama. At Vought he began as an engineer in the Propulsion Section on the Regulus II missile, then a Program Manager on the foreign versions of the A-7 Corsair II aircraft, first for Greece then Portugal. He elected to take early retirement when the defense industry and its military aircraft programs began their drastic reduction in the late 1980’s. After retirement he became deeply involved in the hobby of genealogy, serving with the Dallas Genealogical Society as its president from 1994 to 1995. He was a writer for Genealogical Computing magazine with a regular column reviewing software programs of interest to genealogists. He was a co-founder of GENTECH, a national organization to promote technology for genealogy, and served as its secretary from 1998 until its merger with the National Genealogical Society in 2002. His interest in libraries, archives, and history led him to other areas; he served on the Irving Public Library Board from 1995 to 2001 (and as its president 1999-2001), volunteered on a regular basis in the Irving Archives, became active in the Irving Heritage Society, and served on the Irving Museum Board. He was a member of the Methodist Church’s Commission on Archives and history for the North Texas Conference.
Art and Nancy joined Plymouth Park United Methodist Church in Irving in 1967 and soon became involved in both adult and youth activities. He served on and led many commissions and committees and was currently historian, with his wife. His earlier interests included sports cars, serving as Vice-President of the Dallas Sports Car Club in the early 1960’s, and sailing, when he raced his Catalina 22 as a member of the Grapevine Sailing Club in the 1970’s. He was also active in the tennis leagues of the Las Colinas Country Club at that time. A funeral service will be held 1:00 pm, Saturday, May 21, 2016 at Plymouth Park United Methodist Church, 1615 W Airport Fwy Irving, officiated by Dr. Bill Labarr. A Committal with Military Honors will be held 10:00 am, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at the Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery. The family will be receiving friends Friday, May 20, 2016 at Brown’s Memorial Funeral Home, between the hours of 6:00 and 8:00 pm. The family request memorials to Plymouth Park United Methodist Church or to a charity of your choice.

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