Richard “Dick” Charles Bublitz passed away February 15th at 92 years old, with his wife of 71 years, children, and grandchildren by his side. With his large family and many connections through church, the Chamber of Commerce, and The Belmont, his loss will be felt by many.
He was born on August 28, 1932 in Luck, Wisconsin. He started off in the log cabin his father built during the Great Depression near Balsam Lake. His journey from there took him from coast to coast, with many places in the middle, before ultimately settling in Woodland Hills. Attending grade school and high school in St. Paul, he discovered his favorite three F’s; fishing, football, and fighting. The many lakes and rivers cultivated his love for fishing, which graduated to the ocean in the 70’s once he finally settled on the West Coast. Football led him to start off at the University of Minnesota, before he made the switch to Gustavus Adolphus College where he kept up the sport and added wrestling. He spent time fighting in the ring, boxing throughout high school and fighting on the mat, wrestling in college. Going into his senior year, during the summer of 1953, while working on replacing the main street of New Ulm, Minnesota, he met Rosemary at Veigel’s Kaiserhoff during the street festival celebrating the completion of the project. Getting back into bed after spending the evening with her, he told his football teammate at Gustavus and coworker on the project, John Speliopolis, that he was going to marry that girl. To which John responded to shut up and go to sleep. That December, they were married.
He graduated the following summer in 1954, where his and Rosemary’s adventure together began. Covering the many miles across the country and beyond its borders together, their 71 years long journey took them many places and experienced many milestones. Building a family was one of them he took great pride in. His family of five children, nine grandchildren, and many great grandchildren is a testament to that. His community leadership was another great accomplishment of his. From his time as student body president in his senior year of college to his heavy involvement in the West Valley Chamber of Commerce, his passion and experience impacted all those he connected with. His strength was evident to everyone who knew him. In his own words posted to his Facebook years ago, he attributes wrestling to teaching him about “mental determination” giving him the ability “to outwit and outlast the opponent. Whether in day to day living, business situations, or other athletic activities (particularly long distance running) this mindset has carried me through.” His success in running included completing countless 5k’s, 10k’s, half-marathons, and marathons. That determination made him among one of the last of his age group to still be running into his 80’s. He had more medals than wall space to display them. The same strength and fighting spirit led him to beat Lymphoma in 2016, which was the only thing that could get him to stop running.
He’d have been happy to share this information or any of his stories with anybody he talked to. He’d do it with the normal gleam in his eye that was there even when he closed them for the last time.
His spirit, stories, and lessons will live on through his vast network of friends. Bublitz is survived by his wife Rosemary; his children: Rick, Randy, Rhonda, Rachel, and Risa; their children and grandchildren.
