John Gardner Hubbard

John Gardner Hubbard, age 86, died Thursday, June 25 at Brooke Grove in Sandy Spring, MD. Born in Baltimore, MD, he was the son of the late Thomas Foy and Rose Hicks Hubbard.

John received a degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, after which he embarked on a career as an engineer at Westinghouse Electric Corporation and as a technical writer and translator for Thomson-CGR Medical Corporation.

John had a wide range of interests. He sang in church choirs, including the Homewood at Frederick choir, the Bach Society of Baltimore, the Liedersingers, and was a paid chorister for several Baltimore churches. He was an avid reader of dictionaries and books in foreign languages. He loved word and memory games – Scrabble, Trivia, Acrostic puzzles. He enjoyed traveling in Europe where he did genealogy research on the Hubbard and Hicks families. He also had an eclectic collection of US and foreign currency. He was a member of Grachur Club, Baltimore Street Car Museum, and Train Collectors of America.

John was passionate about model trains and planes which he built, repaired, and renovated. He wrote several published books about trains and produced prototypes for Williams Reproductions, Inc. He designed and made models of original trains for the company to add to their inventory. The president, Jerry Williams, selected John to deal with Tae Hwa Models in Seoul, which manufactured John's prototypes for sale.

John is survived by two brothers, Thomas Hicks Hubbard (Monica) of Altadena, CA and James Hugh Hubbard (Sherry) of Frederick, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Services will be private. John's ashes will be interred in the family plot at St Luke's Cemetery in St. Michaels, MD. Memorial contributions may be made to the Homewood Foundation Benevolent Fund (P.O Box 250, Williamsport, MD 21795-0250).