Obituary of Matthew J. Grubelich

Matthew J. Grubelich, 93, died Friday February 11, 2011 after a lifelong journey. He was born March 19, 1917 in New York City to newly immigrated parents who instilled in him early their love for America. The oldest of four children, he attended Emerson High School in Union City, where he excelled in mathematics, English, played in the orchestra and marching band, and met his sweetheart, Adeline. In 1939 he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology; he was remembered for dismantling bicycles and scattering the loose parts throughout the locker room on slow afternoons; this man would spend the following decades fixing whatever was broken, mending whatever was worn. After he moved to Plainfield, "The Queen City" in April of 1941 with his wife Adeline, he worked as a mechanical engineer with the International Motor Company, Watson Stillman, & Mac Trucks. Matthew worked at the prestigious Bell Laboratories research and development facility in Whippany in the 1970's and 1980's on state of the art electronic systems that were used to modernize telephone networks nationally. According to the United States Patent Office, one of his inventions has been referenced in patents filed as recently as August 2010. Matt was well known and respected not only for his excellent technical work, but more importantly for his warmth and genuine caring for everyone he worked with. During World War II his technical skills were so highly valued that he was ordered to remain in New Jersey where he worked from a draft table instead of the Front in service to his country. A humble man, he did not leave behind monuments or plaques, but homes embroidered with cornices crafted in his basement, notebooks with sketches of machinery components, and most importantly a diverse group of those who loved him and held him close as a "confidant." His name is borne neither by braggarts nor sinecures; this was not the company he kept. His name is borne instead by his grandchildren, friends, neighbors, co-workers, priests, the baker, the distant cousin. He insisted in paying in cash and speaking face to face and valued interacting with local businessmen. The shelves that he built and the plans that he drew narrate his history. The world was his craft, and he worked in silence, turning off the light each night, content to have created something that would outlast him. For a man of such accomplishment, he understood he was but "little specks in this great universe." When not focused on a specific task his leisure moments included listening to opera on the radio, acting on his political ideology, reading the Smithsonian and National Geographic, devoting time to his grandchildren, community and church, and constructing whatever his friends and family might need. He loved to eat and enjoyed many delicious feasts with his grandchildren. He repeatedly asked the nurses for specific food while in the hospital. His decision to undergo invasive burn trauma surgery was consistent with his belief that a "good team" that was skilled and communicative could solve any problem and he repeatedly acknowledged the skill of the burn surgeons during his three week hospitalization. "I need to be as brave as my father", and, "it's all in the attitude," were his bedside words to his family. He kept his cell phone close to him at all times while hospitalized and made frequent calls to those he loved. He trusted and bonded with staff and shared Croatian songs from his childhood. Matthew is predeceased by his wife of 68 years, Adeline Grubelich and his infant son Gerard and he is survived by his two children, Gregory Grubelich and Angela Grubelich/Glassman and his five grandchildren, Naomi, Ria, Amber, Cody and Dana. The funeral will be held on Tuesday, February 15th at 9 am from the Higgins Home for Funerals, 209 West 8th Street, Plainfield followed by a 10 am Mass of Resurrection at St. Mary's R.C. Church, Plainfield. Entombment will be in St. Mary Stony Hill Cemetery, Plainfield Avenue, Watchung. Viewing will be held on Monday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the funeral home.