Obituary of Dr. John Lynn Lubker

John Lynn Lubker  2/10/1930 – 6/11/223

John Lynn Lubker died at his home in Chapel Hill, NC on Sunday, June 11, 2023, after a period of memory and language skill decline. 

Lynn was born on February 10, 1930, in Quincy, Illinois, a small city with German and British heritage on the Mississippi River.  He was the only child of Milton Walter Lubker and Alma Bradshaw Lubker. 

Boyhood activities included Boy Scouts and an early interest in sailing on the Mississippi River as a Sea Scout.  His first paid job was as a route helper on the 7-UP delivery truck for the Quincy Bottling Works which was owned by his father and grandfather.  

Lynn attended high school and the first two years of college in Quincy (Quincy College).  He began playing the trombone during his junior year of high school and joined the professional musicians’ union before high school graduation so that he could play at local and regional musical events.   After high school Lynn joined the United States Air force at the time when young men could, at 18, volunteer for one year of service rather than being drafted for 21 months of military service.  Following basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, he was assigned to the Air Force Band where he spent his remaining enlistment leading parades and welcoming VIPs to the station. 

Following discharge from the Air Force, Lynn attended the University of Iowa and graduated in 1952 as a psychology major.  In 1953, he earned his master’s degree in psychology at Southern Methodist University. He then completed a doctoral program in clinical psychology at University of Kentucky.  He was awarded a doctoral fellowship at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky, where he completed his PhD in 1959.

In 1956, Lynn met his wife, Bobbie Boyd Lubker, when they were both in graduate school at University of Kentucky.  Bobbie and Lynn were married in 1958 in Troy, AL, where Bobbie’s parents were living.

Lynn began his professional career at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia.  While in Roanoke, he played in the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. He also helped organize and was leader of the Roanoke Society for the Preservation of Dixieland and Discord.  The members of this band included Lynn (the psychologist), two physicians, an electrical engineer, a bank vice president and two high school seniors at drums and piano.  The Roanoke community enjoyed the band at events ranging from bar mitzvahs and graduations to telethons and teas.

In 1967, the Lubkers moved to Chapel Hill where Lynn accepted an appointment at the UNC Department of Psychology with an assignment at the training hospital in Butner, NC, John Umstead Hospital.  At Umstead, Lynn was a staff psychologist who also supervised doctoral students from UNC’s Department of Psychology.   

Lynn joined the Rotary Club of Chapel Hill in November 1978 and served as president in 1990-1991. 

In retirement, he actively travelled, both in the United States and around the world, home hosting international scholars (from twenty-four countries, many of whom have stayed in touch), building museum quality model ships and playing golf.  He had three holes-in-one.

Lynn is survived by his wife of sixty-five years, Bobbie Boyd Lubker, and his golf clubs.

End of life care was provided by Walker Funeral Home in Chapel Hill, NC and by Gilbert Funeral Home in Franklin, KY where there will be a formal family service and where Lynn will be buried near family.  A celebration of life gathering will be held later in the summer in Chapel Hill for this fine man.