William Cloyd Bubbers, age 88, of Merritt Island, Florida, passed away peacefully on August 10, 2022 at Cape Canaveral Hospital. He was born April 21, 1934 at Moe Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and came to Brevard County in 1964 from Carrolton, Maryland.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Marlene, daughters Linda (Rick), and the Reverend Dr Susan Bubbers, as well as son William Joseph (Simona) and grandchildren William Miklos (Miki) and Olivia.
After earning his Bachelor’s Degree, Bill worked for Pillsbury Mills in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While there he began graduate school studying Public Administration at the University of Minnesota. He began an internship for the Village of Richfield as assistant to the City Manager. His attempts to find employment as a City Manager failed as it seems no one wanted to hire a 24 year old. He and two friends set out for Washington DC to find their careers.
It was 1959 and Bill found an entry position with Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA, then a new US Government Agency, temporarily located at the Naval Research Center in DC. In 1964 he relocated with his family to Brevard County and NASA’s Unmanned Launch Operations at Kennedy Space Center. About 1980 he transferred across the river to support the Shuttle Program. In 1985 he relocated to Houston Texas, to work on the Technical Management Information Systems project as the representative of Kennedy Space Center on assignment at Johnson Space Center. He continued there until his retirement from NASA in February 1987.
Immediately following his retirement, he gained employment in contract proposal writing with Computer Sciences Corporation. Returning to Florida in 1993, he continued contract proposal writing with Computer Sciences/Raytheon at Patrick Air Force Base. He continued in this role as consultant and proposal writer for various companies until his final retirement in 2017.
In addition to an impressive professional life, Mr B participated in his children's activities at horse shows, baseball games, surfing competitions, and Band Parents.
One of his greatest pleasures was to participate in Barbershop music and 4 part harmony. He was a member of the Cape Canaveral Barbershop Chorus for many years. While in Houston both he and wife Marlene were members of the Bay Area Chorus. Together they participated with the chorus to sing in a by invitation only Advent Concert in Vienna, Austria.
Over the years his other interests included boating, deep sea fishing, and building Dune Buggies. He was an avid reader and had a keen interest in molecular physics.
He was an active leader in his church, Messiah Lutheran Church of Cocoa, where he sang in the choir and served as treasurer on the council. He participated in the Indian River Via De Cristo IRC #35.
Mr B could be generous to a fault with a desire to be supportive and available to mentor.
Memorial gifts may be made in memory of William C Bubbers to Messiah Lutheran Church, Cocoa Florida.
A graveside service for William will be held Thursday, August 18, 2022 at 9:30 AM at Florida Memorial Gardens, 5950 South US Hwy 1, Rockledge, Florida.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.FloridaMemorialFH-Gardens.com for the Bubbers family.
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