Catching up with Fred Rubin
Since graduating from Huntington High School in June 1979, Fred Rubin has gone on to accomplish much in life, personally as a husband and father and professionally in banking. Memories of past teachers and sharing a wide variety of experiences with former classmates have kept his alma mater alive.
“I have great memories of Huntington High School,” Mr. Rubin said recently. He was a marching band drum major and as a senior traveled with the Blue Devils to their first appearance in the Tournament of Roses parade. He was also a member of the chorus and orchestra and as a result of those activities spent extended time with teachers Linda Shoemaker, Andy Householder and Tom Karolyi.
The trip to Pasadena, CA was matched by journeys to Bermuda with the orchestra and Scotland with the choir. “Those were some great trips,” Mr. Rubin recalls. At Huntington, he was a member of the National Honor Society and earned a Regents scholarship. At the senior awards assembly on June 7, 1979, Mr. Rubin was presented with the American Legion Music Award.
“I graduated in 1979 and swiftly left town to pursue summer activities as a member of the Kingsmen drum and bugle corps,” Mr. Rubin said. “At the end of summer, 1979, I began Louisiana State University as an agricultural economics major, which is a code word for pre-vet. During my college years, I transitioned to the College of Arts and Sciences at LSU, played in the ‘Golden Band from Tigerland’ and went to four bowl games and appeared in the movie ‘Everybody’s All American.’”
As a college freshman, Mr. Rubin made a fateful decision, joining the fraternity, ZBT. He became its social chair as a sophomore. “I met my future wife, Amy, as a ZBT mixer while I was a senior and she was a freshman,” he said.
After graduating from LSU in 1983, the Huntington alum started a career in banking in New Orleans and has since worked as a banker, lending officer, credit officer and bank examiner. In 1988 he moved with his family to the Washington, DC area. There he has worked at a handful of banks and at the U.S. Small Business Administration in the chief financial officer’s office, building financial models including one that was the subject of a bill and law.
Mr. Rubin, who resides in Herndon, Virginia, is currently employed by Capital One. It’s a position that allows him to visit Huntington on business trips from time-to-time since Capital One bought North Fork Bank in 2007.
“Since having my two sons, Josh and Noah, I’ve become heavily involved again in the Boy Scouts,” Mr. Rubin said. “As a result, I’ve gone scuba diving in the Florida keys, camped over 100 nights in and around the Shenandoah and Laurel Highlands, whitewater rafting, gone kayaking and canoeing and hiking, cooked the best food (including wild game) and made some great friends. I’ve learned to fly fish and been out west, and landed a dozen trout over 24 inches in a day. I’ve driven fork lifts for our annual mulch day, and learned to shoot, hitting 80 percent of my targets. It’s been quite a ride.”
Last year, retired Huntington teacher and Blue Devil marching band director Linda Shoemaker invited Mr. Rubin to join a Facebook page she created for former band members. “It’s an excellent application to get back in touch with my friends from the younger days. We have had some good laughs already about Finley, Huntington High School and the other schools.”
So, while he might be a couple of hundreds miles away from his alma mater, Huntington is never far from Mr. Rubin’s thoughts.
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