James Lubitz

Jim spent the first few years of his life together with his father, Joseph, a pharmacist, and his mother, Annette, a housewife in Germany where his father was stationed at the end of WWII. After Germany the family settled in Groton, Connecticut. As a child, Jim was the archetypal “good Jewish boy,” suffering through 12 years of Hebrew school. Later in life, Jim became an active and highly respected member of the Columbia Jewish Congregation in Columbia, Maryland.

Jim earned a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Trinity College. After college, Jim was drafted into the US Army then went to graduate school where he earned his master’s in public health at UCLA. While on vacation from grad school, Jim met the love of his life, Rosa Marchena Diaz in Costa Rica, whom he later married. He forged a successful career as a data scientist for the US government, working for agencies such as the CDC and Health Care Financing Administration, and even making an appearance in front of a senate subcommittee. He published 25 peer-reviewed scientific articles. After retiring from his work as a statistician, Jim pursued many passions and became an avid bike rider, baker, a creative photographer, an architecture aficionado, a caring dad, and loving grandfather.

Jim is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 51 years Rosa; daughter Rebecca Lubitz and her husband Ammon Cheskin of Glasgow, Scotland; son Robert Lubitz and his wife Audrey Lubitz, and two grandchildren of Silver Spring, Maryland. He is also survived by his younger brothers Michael Lubitz of Austin, Texas and Paul Lubitz (wife Diana Lubitz) of Arcata, California; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews in Texas, California, and Costa Rica.