Richard M. Chubb M.D

October 21, 1929 - January 8, 2019

Richard M. Chubb, M.D., MPH passed away January 8, 2019 at his home with his wife by his side following an illness. He was born October 21, 1929 in Joplin, MO to Leonard and Nadine (Marshall) Chubb. He graduated from Baxter Springs High School as Valedictorian in 1947. After graduating high school, he attended Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas from 1947 to 1950 beginning his medical education. In 1950 he transferred to Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois. He received his Masters of Science in 1951 and earned his M.D. in 1954. Dr. Chubb began his rotating internship at Pasavant Memorial Hospital in Chicago from 1954 to 1955. He continued with his General Practice residency in Yankton, South Dakota at Sacred Heart Hospital and McVay Clinic from 1955 to 1956. Dr. Chubb joined the United States Air Force in 1956, serving until 1969. During his time in the Air Force, he served at McChord Air Force Base in Washington, Randolph Air Force Base in Texas and Hamilton Air Force Base in California. He served in multiple capacities during his time at these Air Force Bases, including being part of the Flight Surgeon’s Office and the General Medical Officer. He was a part of the nuclear weapons training in Nevada in 1957 while stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base. He entered his first year of Aviation Medicine residency at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Hygiene in Baltimore, Maryland in 1958. He received his Masters in Public Health in 1959. Dr. Chubb took training to become a flight surgeon at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas in a T-33 aircraft. He also attended courses in Brooks Air Base in Texas, including Advanced Course in Aviation Medicine; took field trips to Panama to study Jungle Survival; studied at the Nuclear Weapons Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Vandenberg Air Force Base Missile Range and other missile production facilities in California. His third year of Aviation Medicine residency took him to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. There, he monitored Joe Kittinger’s 1960 balloon jump from 102,000 feet to test high altitude escape equipment for NASA. He also worked in command headquarters and at the flight surgeon’s office at the base hospital. From 1961 to 1963, Dr. Chubb worked at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology where he served as the consultant to the Civil Aeronautics Board as Flight Surgeon on the Human Factors committee. In this role, he investigated commercial airline accidents, assisted with over 500 autopsies of accident victims and wrote a paper on “The Medical Investigation of Aircraft Accidents”, which was published in The Journal of American Medical Association. From 1963-1966, Dr. Chubb was Directorate of Aerospace Safety at Norton Air Force Base in California. He investigated unusual aircraft accidents and wrote papers on aerospace safety. He performed safety surveys in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Okinawa, Germany and the United States. He worked at NASA remote tracking stations as medical monitor of manned space flights. He is accredited with developing Air Force Form 711g used for medical reporting of Aerospace Accidents. This form is still in use today and earned him a commendation medal. From 1966-1967, Dr. Chubb worked as the Director of Base Medical Services at Danang Air Base in Vietnam. There he built and operated the first modular medical facility in the Air Force, and used this to prepare the wounded for air evacuation and casualty staging. He flew 40 combat sorties as flight surgeon during his tour of duty in Vietnam. For his service, Dr. Chubb was awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service and numerous air medals. Dr. Chubb competed his service in the Air Force at PACAF Headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii from 1967 to 1969. He was Chief of Preventative Medicine for the Pacific Air Forces. He retired from the Air Force in 1969, earning a rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During his time at Hickman, he developed improvements to flight ejection seats. In 1967, he was awarded the Harry G. Mosely Award, an international award given to one recipient annually by the Aerospace Medical Association to the person to have contributed the most to flight safety. He was the 7th recipient of this award. Following his service, Dr. Chubb returned to Baxter Springs, KS where he opened his civilian practice. He also served two terms on the Blue Shield of Kansas Board, was a member of the School Board and worked on his father’s farm in his spare time. He worked as a family practice physician until 1990, delivering hundreds of babies at Baxter Memorial Hospital. In 1990, Dr. Chubb went on to serve as the Chief of General Practice Service at the Claremore Indian Hospital. He was Chief Advisor to the Diabetes Health Unit, presenting three papers to the Indian Health Service on the topic of Diabetes prevention and treatment by lifestyle changes. Following his retirement in 1998, he and wife Johna returned to Chicopee, KS. He enjoyed playing golf, singing and traveling with Our Lady of Lourdes Church Choir, and taking care of his yard. Dr. Chubb is survived by his wife, Johna Chubb of the home; two sons, Jeff (Bev) Chubb of Independence, KS and Rick (Leslie) Chubb of Holly Springs, NC; and three daughters, Sally (Randy) Tibbits of Grove, OK, Laura (Rick) Atkinson of Baxter Springs, KS, Kathy (Wayne) Patton of Bella Vista, AR. He is also survived by ten grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and all of Johna’s family. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister Polly Burcham, son Charles L. Chubb, grandson Greg Chubb, and great grandson Zachery Chubb. A very special thank you to his very loving caregivers Alan, Bev, Renee, Teresa, Geraldine, Penny, and Becky. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00am Saturday January 12, 2019 at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church with Fr. Clay Kimbo as celebrant. Burial will follow at the Highland Park Cemetery in Pittsburg, KS. Family will receive friends from 6-7 pm Friday January 11, 2019 at the Bath-Naylor Funeral Home in Pittsburg, KS; friends may call after 12:00pm Friday. In lieu of flowers, the family asks expressions of sympathy be in the form of memorials to the Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Fund. Friends may drop off or mail memorials to Bath-Naylor Funeral Home 522 S. Broadway Pittsburg, KS 66762. Condolences may be left at www.bathnaylor.com. Arrangements and services are under the direction of Bath-Naylor Funeral Home of Pittsburg, KS.