Lowell Brubaker, left, stopped for a photo earlier this year with University of La Verne Development Director Julia Wheeler at his Hillcrest home.

Trustee Lowell Brubaker, 94, passes

by University of La Verne
November 9, 2011

A message from University of La Verne president Devorah Lieberman regarding the passing of longtime Board of Trustees member Lowell Brubaker, who served the La Verne College and University of La Verne campus communities for 41 years:

Devorah Lieberman

It is with sadness that I report the death of long-time Board of Trustees member Lowell Brubaker. Lowell died at his residence in Hillcrest on Sunday following a period of declining health.

Initially elected to the University of La Verne Board of Trustees in 1947, Lowell was on the Board three times for a total of 41 years. During that span he served as both a Board officer and on the Executive Committee. In 2008 he was accorded Emeritus status.

Upon hearing of Lowell’s passing, former University President Steve Morgan said, “Lowell was a model trustee. He read the material, was loyal to the cause, was the keeper of the values and asked the right questions. We will miss our senior statesman. He was a gift to all of us who had the privilege of working with him.”

Born in 1916, Lowell earned a bachelor’s degree from McPherson College (Kansas) and both a master’s and doctorate from the University of Southern California. He was a respected educator and administrator, having worked as a high school teacher, counselor, principal, and assistant supervisor. He also served as Superintendent of Schools for Cabrillo Unified and Half Moon Bay school districts in Northern California.

Following his retirement in 1972, Lowell was placed in charge of the University of La Verne’s Summer Service program. During the next eight years he also served in two different administrative positions – Director of Financial Aid and Director of Church Relations.

Lowell was an active and involved community member. Along with being a lifetime member of the Church of the Brethren, he was a Rotarian and was a former president of the L.A. Airport and Half Moon Bay Rotary clubs.

Lowell lived a life exhibiting the best values of the Church of the Brethren – the values of integrity, inclusivity, community, honesty, egalitarianism and service to others, which were always uppermost in what he modeled for us. Lowell contacted me before I arrived at La Verne with the goal of sharing his values, Brethren traditions, and of maintaining a connection between these values and the university. After several personal visits with Lowell and his partner, Betty, I introduced them to my family. I wanted to ensure that my children and husband had the opportunity to know this remarkable man. Lowell made my life richer and my family’s life fuller, just as he did the lives of the thousands of people he touched during his lifetime.

A memorial service for Lowell will be held on Sunday, November 13 at 1 p.m. at the La Verne Church of the Brethren. Lowell’s first wife, Eugenia, died in 1989. His second wife, Joyce, died in 2000. He is survived by three children from his first marriage – Nancy Hirst of Apple Valley, Jon Brubaker of Laguna Beach and Randall Brubaker of San Francisco – and his partner and friend, Betty Jackson, a 1981 La Verne graduate.

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