- Date Of Birth: November 11, 1931
- Date Of Death: July 15, 2018
- State: Michigan
Dr. Lubavs passed away on Sunday, July 15, 2018 in Kalamazoo, MI. He was born on November 11, 1931 in Cesis, Latvia a son of Karlis and Erna (Veide) Lubavs. Konrads was a well-known surgeon in Kalamazoo and the surrounding area. Dr. Lubavs emigrated to the United States on May 4, 1950 with his mother, younger sister and younger brother, with the sponsorship of the Hellweg family and Watervliet First Methodist church. He graduated from Hartford Consolidated High School in 1951 and then entered Western Michigan University while continuing to work at a local paper mill. He completed his senior year of undergraduate study concurrent with his first year of medical school at the University of Michigan from which he graduated in 1958.
Dr. Lubavs began his work as an intern at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo and later completed a year of residency at Huron Road Hospital, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He returned to Kalamazoo and established his private surgical practice at both Bronson and Borgess Hospitals. Over his decades of practice, he helped train new interns and then residents from Michigan State University as an Assistant Clinical Professor and served several leadership capacities within local healthcare and insurance organizations. He became a Bronson surgeon at Lakeview Hospital in Paw Paw after closing his private practice in 2008. He retired from surgery at the end of 2015 but continued to serve patients at the Bronson Wound Clinic until just weeks before his passing.
Dr. Lubavs was an ardent University of Michigan football fan and attended most home football games with a family member or friend. While eternally grateful for the opportunities his family found in the United States, he was very proud of his heritage and was active in his Latvian fraternity Ventonia (within which he served in several leadership roles in his younger years) and Kalamazoo’s Latvian community. He was a member of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran United Church of Kalamazoo. Konrads loved long weekend drives through the communities along Lake Michigan’s coast and for many years his family enjoyed a summer week at U of M’s alumni camp on Walloon Lake. He was an avid reader in his off-time and enjoyed working in his yard where he often had the chance to chat at length with his neighbors.
While his professional accomplishments were many, his family was his focus. His work ethic ensured they were never found wanting and he provided for them a life likely unimaginable to him when he boy in the displaced persons camps after World War II. He was a kind father who just asked that his children do their best. While always there for advice, he was not overbearing and let each set their own path. In later years he relished the opportunities to spend time with his family as it grew to include four grandchildren.
Konrads was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, CPT Konstantins Lubavs and Karlis Lubavs. He is survived by his wife, Aija; three children, Aleksandra Lubavs of London, England, Karlis (Renee) Lubavs of Sandy, UT and Arturs (Elizabeth Vogel) Lubavs of Hyattsville, MD; four grandchildren, Lija, Konrads, Raimonds and Aleksandrs Lubavs; a sister, Karmena Smith of Kalamazoo; a brother-in-law, E. John (Kathryn) Nagelis PhD of Florida; and several nieces and nephews.
