David Martin Kubista October 31, 1946 - January 4, 2023
David Martin Kubista, 76, of Tucson, Arizona, passed away in Boerne, Texas on January 4, 2023 surrounded by his family.
David was born on October 31, 1946 in Chicago, Illinois, to Robert and Leona Kubista. He grew up in Chicago until the family moved to Tucson where he finished high school. He then joined the Navy and deployed to Vietnam where he served with RVAH-12, being the reconnaissance attack navigator "RAN" in the A-4 Vigilante aircraft, flying off naval aircraft carriers.
Upon returning from Vietnam, he married Patti Tegtmeyer whom they met through family connections from the hardware store Handy Andy. He joined the Arizona Army National Guard, graduated from Officer Candidate School, and retired at the rank of Major.
David was an avid reader of all things, and had an exquisite memory of all things military, including details of various aircraft. He was an avid flier and is known as the American who tracked down and purchased the De Havilland Mosquito A52-319, only to have the Australian Government step in and seize during shipping, which now resides in the Australian War Museum. He went on to collect a vast amount of all things military, including aircraft, with dreams to restore and fly. He was an entrepreneur and founded Western Aircraft and later Helimeds. He was active to his last days with the Arizona Vintage Aircraft Association, which he was greatly fond of.
In addition to military history and aircraft, David had a passion for western history and he was actively involved in The Tucson Corral of the Westerners. He enjoyed watching foreign films and infamously started a yearly family tradition of watching Troll Hunter and Rare Exports during Christmas, both nordic/scandinavian films. He was a master of trivia and was hard to stump. He was an avid cartoon artist and writer. He enjoyed cooking and again infamously would plan big dinners, only for them to take longer than expected, but we still enjoyed them, even though the actual eating part would happen late into the evening. His sense of humor can be described as dry, but witty and was frequently referred to as "one of the good ones".
David was known as Dave, Dad, Grandpa. He seemed to always be able to strike a conversation up with anyone. He was the father to Nikolaus (Sandra), Alexis (Pete) and Katharyn, and a grandfather to two grandchildren, Reese and Reid. Most recently, he enjoyed sharing his passion for model trains and coin collecting with the grandchildren, including fostering Reid's passion for becoming a pilot and Reese's passion for horseback riding.
In place of floral remembrances, the family suggests donations can be made to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) "Young Eagle" program, in honor of David's memory.
Our lives go on without you, but things will never be the same. Be good, Dad - we got things down here.
Services will be held on February 24, 2023 at 1:00 PM at the Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery at Marana, Arizona.
Arrangements are under the care and direction of the staff of Holt & Holt Funeral Home of Boerne. To share words of comfort with the family, please visit www.holtfh.com.
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