Obituary: John Trubachik Jr.

John attended Park Street School (where he was a member of the 4H Club), and May Street School before the family moved to The Dalles, Ore.  There, he attended The Dalles Junior High School and graduated from The Dalles High School in 1966.

John worked at Harvey Aluminum before joining the United States Air Force and, after his honorable discharge in 1972, he returned to his position at Harvey Aluminum (later Martin Marietta, Northwest Aluminum), advancing to his final position of Industrial Millwright Lead Man before retiring. While with the company, he participated on their basketball and bowling teams.

He purchased land on the east side of Hood River for his home in the country and commuted to The Dalles during his career. He was an avid outdoorsman and loved hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, mountain biking, 4-wheeling and traveling. He especially enjoyed family hunting trips to Heppner.

John hunted with family and friends for elk, deer, antelope, turkey, duck and goose. He fished the Hood River, Columbia River, Deschutes River and even took a few trips to fish the Oregon Coast, Baja, Mexico, and in Alaska. In his travels,  he went to many lakes and rivers throughout the Pacific Northwest, including  and several National Parks including Yellowstone, Glacier, Arches, Zion, Canyon Lands, Yosemite, Sequoia, Redwoods, the Bad Lands, Great Sand Dunes and Lake Mead.

On one of his trips to Alaska, he drove a truck and camper up the Alaskan Highway with his mother, brother and sister.  While in Anchorage, they went on a fly-in float trip where they flew into a wilderness lake, floated a raft down a couple rivers and ended up at a lake. They saw bear, moose and other wildlife. During another Alaskan trip, he and family flew into Anchorage and rented a car and toured Alaska, camping at Denali National Park and then driving further North to Prudhoe Bay where they camped at the Artic Circle Campground. On the trip back, they went through the Yukon Territory in Canada, experienced the lifestyle of the Yukon Gold Rush days by panning for gold and visiting the historic Diamond Tooth Gerties in Dawson Creek of the Yukon.

It wasn’t all hunting and fishing, though. He also enjoyed vacations to New York, where he toured the Statute of Liberty, Ellis Island and the New York Stock Exchange; Philadelphia, where he saw the Liberty Bell and ate chocolate at Hershey, Penn.; and Colorado, where he visited Pikes Peak, Denver and Colorado Springs, where he toured and tasted at the Coors and Budweiser factories.

John was strong, hard-working, loyal and supportive. He will be missed by all. 

He is survived by three sisters, Susan (Trubachik) Noel (Vern Noel), Marilyn (Trubachik) Nielsen (Jack Nielsen) and Diane Trubachik; three nieces, Janee, Michelle and Sara; two nephews, Jacob and Jeffrey; six great-nieces, Britney, Nadea, Maddy, Alyssa, Claire and Liyah; three great-nephews, Jared, Jeffrey and Justin; and three great-great nephews, Lucas, Hunter and Ronin. 

John was predeceased by his parents, Mary and John Trubachik, and his brother, Edward Trubachik.

Catholic funeral services with military honors are planned for 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 11 at Anderson’s Tribute Center, 1401 Belmont Ave., Hood River. Graveside rites will immediately follow at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, 1225 Tucker Road, Hood River. A reception will follow the graveside at the Hood River Elks Lodge, 304 Cascade Ave., Hood River.

Memorial donations may be made in John’s name to Oregon Fish and Wildlife (c/o Anderson’s Tribute Center).

The family of John Trubachik would like to thank the Hood River EMTs, Life Flight and staff at Adventist Medical Center for their care and compassion during this difficult time of our brother’s passing.

John was the rock of the family, stead-fast and lived life to its fullest. He did it his way ...

Arrangements are under the direction of Anderson’s Tribute Center. Visit www.AndersonsTributeCenter.com to leave a note of condolence for the family.