Dan Kubiak
Encyclopedia
Daniel James Kubiak (March 19, 1938 – August 30, 1998) was an educator and businessman from Rockdale
, Texas, who served as a Democratic
member of the Texas House of Representatives
from 1969 to 1983 and again from 1991 until his death in office. During his tenure in the House, he represented three different districts in Central Texas
and was particularly known for his support of public education
.
in Falls County
to a Roman Catholic couple, John T. Kubiak (1914–2001), a farmer, later garage owner, and a native of Robertson County, and the former Connie M. Snider (1915–1999). He attended elementary and junior high school in Reagan but graduated in 1957 from Marlin High School in Marlin
, where he was class president and a letterman in football, basketball, track and baseball. In 1959, he received an Associate of Arts degree from Blinn College
in Brenham
in Washington County, Texas. Thereafter in 1962, he received a Bachelor of Business Administration
from the University of Texas at Austin
, which he attended on a football scholarship. In 1968, he procured a Master of Education
degree from Midwestern State University
in Wichita Falls
, Texas. He also pursued graduate studies at Georgetown University
in Washington, D.C. He later received the PhD in education from UT-Austin. From 1962 to 1963, he was a mathematics teacher and coach in Vernon
, Texas, where he was also a semi-professional football player for the 1962 state champion Vernon Vikings. He then spent five years from 1963 to 1968 at Cypress-Fairbanks High School
in Houston. In 1967, he received "Teacher of the Year" designation from both Cypress-Fairbanks High School and the Texas State Teachers Association.
. That district included Milam, Robertson, and his native Falls counties. He was elected the year that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
of Texas declined to seek a second full term in office. There is a photograph on Kubiak's memorial page of a youthful Kubiak speaking with Johnson, probably in the late 1960s. Kubiak was reelected to the state House in 1970, a heavily Democratic year in which Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., won the U.S. Senate race in Texas against future President George Herbert Walker Bush. In 1972, after redistricting
, Kubiak defeated an incument Democrat in District 36, which included Waller, Washington, Milam, and Robertson counties. He was also reelected in District 36 in 1974, 1976, 1978, and 1980.
During these first seven terms in office, Kubiak served on the Education Committee, Agriculture and Livestock Committee, Parks and Wildlife Committee, Penitentiaries Committee, Special Committee on Four-Quarter School Plan, Rules Committee and the Appropriations Committee. He was the chairman of the Budget and Oversight Committee and the Subcommittee on Federal Funds during the regular 1981 session. Then Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
Bill W. Clayton
of Lamb County appointed Kubiak to head the Fire Ant Committee in 1981. In 1972, he was named one of the "Ten Best Legislators" by Texas Monthly
magazine, which termed him "the best educated education chairman in modern time."
After his seventh term in the state House, Kubiak lost a Democratic primary race for Texas land commissioner to Garry Mauro
of Bryan
, a confidant of later U.S. President Bill Clinton
. Kubiak's House seat was in turn won by his brother, L. B. Kubiak
, a veterinarian
. In 1983, Dan Kubiak failed to unseat Republican
convert Phil Gramm
for U.S. representative in the Bryan-College Station
district. A former Democrat, Gramm switched parties to support the administration of President Ronald W. Reagan. Gramm resigned his House seat but retained the post in a special election in which Kubiak was one of Gramm's challengers. In 1984, Kubiak won the Democratic nomination for Congress over State Senator Hugh Parmer
of Fort Worth
but lost the general election to the still serving Republican, Joe Barton
, who succeeded Gramm in the House upon Gramm's election to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John G. Tower. During the 1980s, Kubiak devoted much of his energy to real estate, farming, and construction projects.
In 1990, L. B. Kubiak did not seek reelection, and Dan Kubiak was instead elected to the state House from District 13, which then included Milam, Robertson, Washington and Waller counties. He was reelected in 1992, 1994 and 1996. In 1992, District 13 was significantly redrawn to include Austin
, Brazos
, Burleson, and Lee counties as well as the continuing Milam and Washington counties. In 1992, as a Bill Clinton supporter, Kubiak won narrowly, 52 to 48 percent over the Brenham Republican Robert Mikeska, who fared particularly well in Washington and Austin counties in the southern end of the district. Thereafter, Kubiak devoted greater time and attention to those counties and won them both in 1996 over the Republican James Hartley. However, the margin in Austin County was a mere thirty-one votes.
During his second stint in the House, Kubiak served on the Higher Education Committee, the Agriculture and Livestock Committee, the Committee to Study Texas State Technical College, the Appropriations Committee, the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee and the Joint Interim Committee on State Investment Policy. He was chairman of the Funding Formulas for Higher Education Committee, the Deferred Maintenance Committee, the Sub-Committee for regulatory Agencies and the Oversight of Major Information Systems Interim Committee. Kubiak was Vice-Chairman for the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee.
at the age of sixty at his home in Rockdale, while he was again campaigning for reelection. Oddly, his intraparty rival for land commissioner from 1982, Garry Mauro, headed the Democratic ticket that year in a failed effort to deny a second term to Republican Governor
George W. Bush
. L. B. Kubiak sought the nomination to succeed his brother, but he party chairmen in the district unanimously turned to Teddy Boehm of Brenham, the wife of a retired physician, Henry Boehm, who had served as chairman of the Blinn College trustees. L. B. Kubiak refused to support Mrs. Boehm and instead endorsed the Republican nominee, Charles B. Jones of College Station, who claimed the seat for the first time in the 20th century for the GOP
. According to the Austin American-Statesman
, Mrs. Boehm questioned L. B. Kubiak's endorsement: "I do wonder if Mr. Jones is such a supporter of Mr. [Dan] Kubiak's principles, why was he running against him?"
On learning of Kubiak's death, Speaker Pete Laney
of Hale Center
, Texas, said that he was "shocked and saddened by the sudden death of our friend and colleague. We have lost a good friend and the people of Texas have lost an outstanding legislator who worked tirelessly on behalf of his constituents to improve public education and to ensure that state tax dollars were spent wisely and efficiently." State Senator Carlos Truan, a Corpus Christi
Democrat and the dean of the Senate, described Kubiak as "a very, very dedicated legislator, particularly in the field of education."
In 1967, while he was still in the field of professional education, Kubiak published Ten Tall Texans, biographical sketches designed for juveniles and young adults taken from the period in Texas history from 1821 to 1845. Among those featured in the book are Sam Houston
, Lorenzo de Zavala
, Stephen F. Austin
, Jose Antonio Navarro
, Ben Milam, Andrea Candelaria (a nurse who survived the siege of The Alamo), Davy Crockett
, Jim Bowie
, Juan Seguin
, and William B. Travis
. An exhibit entitled Ten Tall Texans was established in 2008 at the Brenham Heritage Museum. It was loaned during 2009 to the Rockdale Depot Museum. In 1984, Kubiak's book was republished by Eakin Publishers under the title Titans of Texas .
In 1972, he published a second book, A Monument to a Black Man: The Biography of William Goyens, a study of the African American who served as an aide to Sam Houston and was a negotiator for Indian
treaties
.
A divorced father of three children, Kubiak is interred at the Texas State Cemetery
in Austin
, as is the prerogative of all state lawmakers. His epitaph reads: "God's gift to us is life. What we do with that life is our gift back to Him."
Rockdale, Texas
Rockdale is a city in Milam County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,440 at the 2000 census.Rockdale was the site of a large Alcoa smelting operation, which could produce 1.67 million pounds of aluminum per day. The ALCOA plant was closed in late 2008 - early 2009.Author George Sessions...
, Texas, who served as a Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
member of the Texas House of Representatives
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
from 1969 to 1983 and again from 1991 until his death in office. During his tenure in the House, he represented three different districts in Central Texas
Central Texas
Central Texas , is a region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is roughly bordered by San Marcos to Fredericksburg to Waco, and to Brenham, and includes the Austin–Round Rock, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Bryan-College Station, and Waco metropolitan areas...
and was particularly known for his support of public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
.
Background
Kubiak was the oldest of six children born in ReaganReagan, Texas
Reagan is an unincorporated community in Falls County, Texas, United States. It lies at the intersection of State Highway 6 and Farm-to-Market Road 413, nine miles southeast of Marlin....
in Falls County
Falls County, Texas
Falls County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 18,576. In 2003, the population of the county was estimated to be 17,926. It is named for the waterfalls on the Brazos River, which can be found at the Falls On The Brazos Park, a campsite located only a few...
to a Roman Catholic couple, John T. Kubiak (1914–2001), a farmer, later garage owner, and a native of Robertson County, and the former Connie M. Snider (1915–1999). He attended elementary and junior high school in Reagan but graduated in 1957 from Marlin High School in Marlin
Marlin, Texas
Marlin is a city in Falls County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,628 at the 2000 census, but decreased to 5,967 by 2010. It is also the county seat of Falls County, and has been so since 1851...
, where he was class president and a letterman in football, basketball, track and baseball. In 1959, he received an Associate of Arts degree from Blinn College
Blinn College
Blinn College is a two-year academic institution based in Brenham, Texas with campuses in Brenham, Bryan, Schulenburg, and Sealy. While the Brenham campus is Blinn's main campus, more than 70% of students attend the Bryan campus....
in Brenham
Brenham, Texas
Brenham is a city in east-central Texas in Washington County, Texas, United States, with a population of 16,147 according to the 2009 census. It is the county seat of Washington County...
in Washington County, Texas. Thereafter in 1962, he received a Bachelor of Business Administration
Bachelor of Business Administration
The Bachelor of Business Administration is a bachelor's degree in Commerce and business administration. In most universities, the degree is conferred upon a student after four years of full-time study in one or more areas of business concentrations; see below...
from the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, which he attended on a football scholarship. In 1968, he procured a Master of Education
Master of Education
The Master of Education is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum and instruction, counseling, and administration. It is often conferred for educators advancing in...
degree from Midwestern State University
Midwestern State University
Midwestern State University is a public liberal arts college in Wichita Falls, Texas, and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges...
in Wichita Falls
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...
, Texas. He also pursued graduate studies at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in Washington, D.C. He later received the PhD in education from UT-Austin. From 1962 to 1963, he was a mathematics teacher and coach in Vernon
Vernon, Texas
Vernon is a city in Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 11,660; it was 11,077 in the 2005 census estimate. Vernon is the county seat of Wilbarger County....
, Texas, where he was also a semi-professional football player for the 1962 state champion Vernon Vikings. He then spent five years from 1963 to 1968 at Cypress-Fairbanks High School
Cy-Fair High School
Cy-Fair High School is a secondary school located in Cypress, which is an unincorporated place in Harris County, Texas, near Houston. The school, located along U.S...
in Houston. In 1967, he received "Teacher of the Year" designation from both Cypress-Fairbanks High School and the Texas State Teachers Association.
Legislative years
Initially, Kubiak was elected to the legislature in 1968 from District 27, when he unseated an incumbent Democrat in the primary electionPrimary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
. That district included Milam, Robertson, and his native Falls counties. He was elected the year that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
of Texas declined to seek a second full term in office. There is a photograph on Kubiak's memorial page of a youthful Kubiak speaking with Johnson, probably in the late 1960s. Kubiak was reelected to the state House in 1970, a heavily Democratic year in which Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., won the U.S. Senate race in Texas against future President George Herbert Walker Bush. In 1972, after redistricting
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
, Kubiak defeated an incument Democrat in District 36, which included Waller, Washington, Milam, and Robertson counties. He was also reelected in District 36 in 1974, 1976, 1978, and 1980.
During these first seven terms in office, Kubiak served on the Education Committee, Agriculture and Livestock Committee, Parks and Wildlife Committee, Penitentiaries Committee, Special Committee on Four-Quarter School Plan, Rules Committee and the Appropriations Committee. He was the chairman of the Budget and Oversight Committee and the Subcommittee on Federal Funds during the regular 1981 session. Then Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the House...
Bill W. Clayton
Bill W. Clayton
Billy Wayne "Bill" Clayton , was an American politician from West Texas who served as a state legislator for 20 years and was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983, a tenure twice as long as that of any other presiding officer of the house elected before him...
of Lamb County appointed Kubiak to head the Fire Ant Committee in 1981. In 1972, he was named one of the "Ten Best Legislators" by Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
magazine, which termed him "the best educated education chairman in modern time."
After his seventh term in the state House, Kubiak lost a Democratic primary race for Texas land commissioner to Garry Mauro
Garry Mauro
Garry Mauro is an American Democratic Party politician from Texas, most noted for being the four-term commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 1983 to 1999 during the administrations of Governors Mark White, Bill Clements, Ann Richards, and George W...
of Bryan
Bryan, Texas
Bryan is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 76,201. It is the county seat of Brazos County and is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley . It shares its border with the city of College Station, which lies to its south...
, a confidant of later U.S. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. Kubiak's House seat was in turn won by his brother, L. B. Kubiak
L. B. Kubiak
L. B. Kubiak is a veterinarian in Austin, Texas, who served as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives from District 13 from 1983 to 1991. He resides in Rockdale in Milam County...
, a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
. In 1983, Dan Kubiak failed to unseat Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
convert Phil Gramm
Phil Gramm
William Philip "Phil" Gramm is an American economist and politician, who has served as a Democratic Congressman , a Republican Congressman and a Republican Senator from Texas...
for U.S. representative in the Bryan-College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
district. A former Democrat, Gramm switched parties to support the administration of President Ronald W. Reagan. Gramm resigned his House seat but retained the post in a special election in which Kubiak was one of Gramm's challengers. In 1984, Kubiak won the Democratic nomination for Congress over State Senator Hugh Parmer
Hugh Parmer
Hugh Q. Parmer is an attorney and Democratic politician in Fort Worth, Texas. He served in both houses of the Texas State Legislature, on the Fort Worth City Council, and as mayor of Fort Worth. In 1990, he was his party's unsuccessful nominee for the U.S...
of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
but lost the general election to the still serving Republican, Joe Barton
Joe Barton
Joseph Linus "Joe" Barton is a Republican politician, representing in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus...
, who succeeded Gramm in the House upon Gramm's election to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John G. Tower. During the 1980s, Kubiak devoted much of his energy to real estate, farming, and construction projects.
In 1990, L. B. Kubiak did not seek reelection, and Dan Kubiak was instead elected to the state House from District 13, which then included Milam, Robertson, Washington and Waller counties. He was reelected in 1992, 1994 and 1996. In 1992, District 13 was significantly redrawn to include Austin
Austin County, Texas
Austin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas adjacent to the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 28,417 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Bellville. Austin County is named for Stephen F...
, Brazos
Brazos County, Texas
Brazos County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas in the Central Texas region. In 2010, its population was 194,851. The county seat is Bryan and it is part of the Bryan-College Station metropolitan area. Brazos is named for the Brazos River, along with Brazoria...
, Burleson, and Lee counties as well as the continuing Milam and Washington counties. In 1992, as a Bill Clinton supporter, Kubiak won narrowly, 52 to 48 percent over the Brenham Republican Robert Mikeska, who fared particularly well in Washington and Austin counties in the southern end of the district. Thereafter, Kubiak devoted greater time and attention to those counties and won them both in 1996 over the Republican James Hartley. However, the margin in Austin County was a mere thirty-one votes.
During his second stint in the House, Kubiak served on the Higher Education Committee, the Agriculture and Livestock Committee, the Committee to Study Texas State Technical College, the Appropriations Committee, the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee and the Joint Interim Committee on State Investment Policy. He was chairman of the Funding Formulas for Higher Education Committee, the Deferred Maintenance Committee, the Sub-Committee for regulatory Agencies and the Oversight of Major Information Systems Interim Committee. Kubiak was Vice-Chairman for the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee.
Death and legacy
Kubiak died in 1998 of cardiovascular diseaseCardiovascular disease
Heart disease or cardiovascular disease are the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels . While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis...
at the age of sixty at his home in Rockdale, while he was again campaigning for reelection. Oddly, his intraparty rival for land commissioner from 1982, Garry Mauro, headed the Democratic ticket that year in a failed effort to deny a second term to Republican Governor
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. L. B. Kubiak sought the nomination to succeed his brother, but he party chairmen in the district unanimously turned to Teddy Boehm of Brenham, the wife of a retired physician, Henry Boehm, who had served as chairman of the Blinn College trustees. L. B. Kubiak refused to support Mrs. Boehm and instead endorsed the Republican nominee, Charles B. Jones of College Station, who claimed the seat for the first time in the 20th century for the GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. According to the Austin American-Statesman
Austin American-Statesman
The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....
, Mrs. Boehm questioned L. B. Kubiak's endorsement: "I do wonder if Mr. Jones is such a supporter of Mr. [Dan] Kubiak's principles, why was he running against him?"
On learning of Kubiak's death, Speaker Pete Laney
Pete Laney
James E. "Pete" Laney is a U.S. Democratic Party politician from West Texas. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for 34 years from Hale Center . Laney served as Speaker for ten years from 1993 to 2003, a record matching that set by his predecessor, fellow Democrat Gibson D...
of Hale Center
Hale Center, Texas
Hale Center is a city in Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,263 at the 2000 census. Hale Center is near the county seat of Plainview.Hale Center is located at ....
, Texas, said that he was "shocked and saddened by the sudden death of our friend and colleague. We have lost a good friend and the people of Texas have lost an outstanding legislator who worked tirelessly on behalf of his constituents to improve public education and to ensure that state tax dollars were spent wisely and efficiently." State Senator Carlos Truan, a Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
Democrat and the dean of the Senate, described Kubiak as "a very, very dedicated legislator, particularly in the field of education."
In 1967, while he was still in the field of professional education, Kubiak published Ten Tall Texans, biographical sketches designed for juveniles and young adults taken from the period in Texas history from 1821 to 1845. Among those featured in the book are Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
, Lorenzo de Zavala
Lorenzo de Zavala
Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Saenz was a 19th-century Mexican politician. He served as finance minister under President Vicente Guerrero. A colonizer and statesman, he was also the interim Vice President of the Republic of Texas, serving under interim President David G...
, Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
, Jose Antonio Navarro
José Antonio Navarro
José Antonio Navarro was a Texas statesman, revolutionary, politician, and merchant. The son of Ángel Navarro and Josefa María Ruiz y Pena, he was born into a distinguished noble family at San Antonio de Béxar in New Spain....
, Ben Milam, Andrea Candelaria (a nurse who survived the siege of The Alamo), Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
, Jim Bowie
Jim Bowie
James "Jim" Bowie , a 19th-century American pioneer, slave trader, land speculator, and soldier, played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo...
, Juan Seguin
Juan Seguín
Juan Nepomuceno Seguín was a 19th-century Texas Senator, Mayor, Judge, and Justice of the Peace and a prominent participant in the Texas Revolution.-Early life and family:...
, and William B. Travis
William B. Travis
William Barret Travis was a 19th-century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army...
. An exhibit entitled Ten Tall Texans was established in 2008 at the Brenham Heritage Museum. It was loaned during 2009 to the Rockdale Depot Museum. In 1984, Kubiak's book was republished by Eakin Publishers under the title Titans of Texas .
In 1972, he published a second book, A Monument to a Black Man: The Biography of William Goyens, a study of the African American who served as an aide to Sam Houston and was a negotiator for Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
treaties
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
.
A divorced father of three children, Kubiak is interred at the Texas State Cemetery
Texas State Cemetery
The Texas State Cemetery is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, the capital of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and Vice-President of the Republic of Texas, it was expanded into a Confederate cemetery during the Civil War...
in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, as is the prerogative of all state lawmakers. His epitaph reads: "God's gift to us is life. What we do with that life is our gift back to Him."