Wayne A. Rubey

Wayne A. Rubey, age 89, of Springboro and formerly of Vandalia, Ohio passed away on Friday, April 17, 2026, at the Enclave of Springboro. He was born on August 28, 1936, in Greenville, OH to the late Carl Henry and Dorothy L. (Arnold) Rubey. He was also preceded in death by his wife of 47 years, Arlene (Leskowski) Rubey, his daughter, Theresa Neff and two brothers, James and Jerry Rubey.

Wayne is survived by his two sons Joseph (Jill) Rubey, Andrew (Nancy) Rubey; his five grandchildren, Scott (April) Neff, Ryan (Amanda) Neff, Chris (Sally) Rubey, Eric Neff, and Ben (Paige) Rubey; his great-grandchildren, Luna, Ramona and Maisie. He is also survived by his sister Marilyn Hess.

Wayne was a graduate of Fairview High School, Sinclair College and the University of Dayton with a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering.

The career accomplishments of Wayne can be largely attributed to having a gifted mentor early in his career and later, the rare opportunity of entering two technical specialized fields while in their infancy. He worked for nine years in various laboratories at Ledex, Inc, where his mentor was George H. Leland, the founder of that company and the Leland Electric Co. Wayne joined the Research Institute at the University of Dayton in 1963, and was introduced almost immediately to the new and rapidly growing instrumental analysis technique of gas chromatography. Mr. Rubey is a co-founder of the Research Institute's Environmental Sciences and Engineering Laboratory. In 1985, he was the recipient of the Wohlleben-Hochwalt Outstanding Professional Research Award for his "Development of a System for Thermal Diagnostic Studies". Over Wayne's 36-year career at the University of Dayton, he authored or co-authored more than 200 research reports, journal articles or technical presentations and 4 patents. The laboratory where Wayne worked to develop many of his ideas was named the Wayne A. Rubey Thermal Decomposition Research Laboratory. Wayne retired in 1999.

Wayne enjoyed traveling with his family, hiking, fishing, and eating good food. He was a frequent visitor to Second Street Farmer’s Market, where he bought flowers and many cherry pies over the years.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at the Anderson Funeral Home-Springboro Chapel, 40 North Main Street, Springboro, Ohio. The family will receive visitors at the funeral home from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service on Thursday. He will be laid to rest next to Arlene in Abbottsville Cemetery in Abbottsville, Darke County, Ohio.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Wayne may be made to Day City Hospice, 7601 Paragon Road, Suite 203, Dayton, Ohio 45459.

Memories or online condolences may be left for the family at www.daycityhospice.com.