Marion Jay Hubers known as Shorty, lost his battle with prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s on August 18, 2024. He was the son of Albert and Grace (Brower) Hubers, born on May 17, 1935, in Doon, Iowa. He married Sharon De Boer on August 22, 1956 at the Little Brown Church in the Vale. They spent the first part of life living in communities within northwest Iowa including Orange City, Remsen, Everly, Estherville and Okoboji. They moved to San Diego, California in 1996.
Shorty grew up on a farm without electricity or indoor plumbing attending a one room country school. He joined the Navy Reserves but due to a hunting accident started his lifelong educational pursuit of knowledge graduating from Northwestern Academy and then receiving his bachelor’s degree from Westmar College. He went on to earn multiple advanced post graduate degrees attending Rutgers University, University of California San Jose, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Minnesota State University, Nova Southeastern University and University of South Dakota.
Shorty had many accomplishments, but none bigger than surviving a life altering accident when he was 27. After spending a year in the hospital, he returned to teaching and helping his father work his family farm every Saturday.
Shorty taught high school math and then became a math instructor for Iowa Lakes Community College. His love for computers motivated him to start one of the first IBM computer processing centers in the United States, Iowa’s Area 3-4 computer center which provided administrative processing for 52 governmental agencies in Northwest Iowa. After his first retirement, he spent several decades helping his son run operations at Mortgage Loan Specialists in San Diego, California.
Shorty loved to captain boats on Okoboji and enjoyed time playing cards with friends. One of his favorite ways to spend time with friends was singing around the player piano. He also volunteered for community service throughout the Iowa Great Lakes region. One of his first passions was roller-skating where he was the Grand Marshall of the rink. Before he moved to the beach, you could find him snowmobiling down the river to Minnesota with Sharon and their friends. He had a clever sense of humor, found the good in everyone and will be greatly missed by the many people who loved him.
He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Sharon; two children, Deb Hubers and her wife Jacquie Johnson, of Solana Beach, California; Myles Hubers of San Diego, California; two grandchildren, Morgan Hubers and “MJ” Myles Justin Hubers and his wife Heather; sister-in-law Kathy Dudding and brother-in-law Mike Dudding. Nieces and nephews: Bob Hubers, Jason Hubers, Fonda Holstein, Belinda McEntee, Tony Vink, Desire Macke, and Tyler Dudding.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister, Glenda Hubers and brother Forrest Hubers and his wife Lenora; and sister-in-law Vivian Strayer and her first husband Stan Vink and brother-in-law Jim Strayer; nephew John Vink and nieces Vicki Vink and Mikaela Dudding.
His family is having a celebration of life in the future, and he has donated his body to education through the UCSD Medical School. Donations in his honor can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
