Robert Allen Cubbedge; 1926-2014: Engineer helped boost efficiency at Toledo plants

3/20/2014

Robert Allen Cubbedge, an entrepreneur who helped improve the automation of several manufacturing plants in Toledo, died Friday at the Ebeid Hospice in Sylvania. He was 87.

He died from congestive heart failure, daughter Kimberley Cubbedge-Redd said.

Mr. Cub-bedge was an engineer but grew to love the outdoors as a child. He had a chance to spend a summer at the YMCA Storer camp in Jackson, Mich., when he was about 10, and as an adult, he became a member of the camp’s board of directors and served as board chairman from 1975 to 1976.

“I think he felt he had gained a lot from Camp Storer, and he wanted to make sure it continued on in the future,” said his son Keith.

Mr. Cubbedge was born Aug. 4, 1926, to Marion and Robert Kimberly in Toledo. He changed his last name to Cubbedge when his mother remarried.

Her father, Frank Mulholland, was a founder of Rotary International and was president of the national organization in 1914. Mr. Cubbedge was an active member of Rotary International for more than 50 years.

Called into active duty in the U.S. Army in 1944, he went to college on the G.I. Bill and graduated from the University of Alabama in 1949, his daughter said.

“He knew Toledo was an auto industry hub, and he thought it would be a good place to work, and he still had family in this area,” his son said.

He worked for firms including Acklin Stamping, Leake Stamping and Engraving Co. in Monroe, and the Fred W. Kiemle-Hankins Co. in Toledo.

In 1971 he became president of Cubbedge Controls Inc. His business helped several major companies in Toledo modernize their plants with advanced components and mechanical drives that improved efficiency in their manufacturing processes, his son said. He served in various leadership posts, including the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Toledo Technical Council, and the Robotics and Smart Automation Conference at the University of Toledo.

When Mr. Cubbedge moved to Toledo in 1949 he met his future bride, Janet Dietrich, who was studying to be a teacher. They were married in 1951.

The family lived in West Toledo and then built a home in Sylvania Township and lived there for many years until Mrs. Cubbedge died of cancer at the age of 43. A nature preserve was named in her honor at YMCA Camp Storer.

Mr. Cubbedge later married Marilyn Jo Kamm, who survives.

Also surviving are his sons, Keith and Ken Cubbedge and Donald and Art Kamm; daughters, Kimberley Cubbedge-Redd, Oticca Beamer, and Tatjania Sakowski; sisters, Gay Jung and Carol Andreyev; 12 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren.

The family plans to hold memorial services in June, one in Toledo and one at Camp Storer.

The family suggests tributes to the Cubbedge Nature Preserve at YMCA Storer Camps, 6941 Stony Lake Rd., Jackson, MI 49201.

Contact Marlene Harris-Taylor Marlene Harris-Taylor at: mtaylor@theblade.com or 419-724-6091.