Dave Brubaker
“Bru” was born in Ashland, Ohio in 1939, the son of Ethel and Clarence Brubaker and the brother of Bonnie, Larry, Ann, and Dan. He attended Grant and Montgomery Elementary Schools, and graduated from Ashland High School in 1957.
Bur earned four varsity letters at Ashland High School. He lettered in baseball, his sophomore year under Coach Bud Plank, and earned three letters in basketball under Coach George Valentine.
In basketball, Bru became a starter midway through his sophomore season, finishing the year scoring 153 points and being named Second Team All-Sectional Tournament.
As a junior, he was the team’s second leading scorer behind Hall of Famer Max Messner with 351 points and averaging 17.5 points per game. He led the team in foul shooting at 72.3% and was named Second Team All-Area. The 1956 team set a school record of 107 points against Lima Senior.
Bru was captain his senior year, leading the team in scoring with 397 points (20.8 average), rebounding 332
(17.4 average) and free throw shooting at 70.5%. He had a high game of 34 points against Lorain and a high game of 28 rebounds against Mansfield Madison. He was honored as First Team All-Area and Third Team All-Ohio.
For his career, he scored a total of 911 points and at the time was fourth on the all-time AHS scoring list. His 332 rebounds averaging 17.4 per game as a senior was second on the all-time rebounding list and set the single game record with 28. In 2000, he was one of seven all time Ashland players to be nominated for the Mansfield New Journal Regional All-Century Basketball Team.
Bru attended Mount Union College, playing varsity basketball for four years, graduating in 1961. He lettered all four years, and was the team leading scorer as a Sophomore (317 points, 14.4 average) Junior 476 points, 19.0 average), and Senior (420 points, 19.1 average). As a 6 foot 3 inch guard, he was the second leading rebounder as a Sophomore (143 rebounds, 6.5 average), second as a Junior (285 rebounds, 11.4 average) and was the leading rebounder as a Senior with 257, and a 11.7 average. He led the team his Senior year in free throw shooting with 76.5%. He was team captain and most valuable player his Junior year and Senior years.
As a Junior, Bru set the Mount Union College single season scoring record with 476 points. Hi high game was 30. For his career, he set the season and career records for most field goals made and set the all time Mount Union career scoring record with 1,266 points.
Mount Union was a member of the 14 school Ohio Conference. As a sophomore, Bru was named Honorable Mention All-Conference, and as a junior and senior named to the All-Conference teams. Both his Junior and Senior years he was in the top five scoring and rebounding in the conference. In 1987, Brubaker was elected to the Mount Union College Hall of Fame.
Following graduation, Bru began employment with Lumbermens Insurance, in Mansfield, as a Sales Agent. After six years, he transferred to the Lumbermens office in Akron, Ohio as Branch Manager. While in Mansfield, Brubaker was selected as the First Head Basketball Coach for Mansfield Ohio State University Branch. He coached two years before moving to Akron.
In 1977 Bru left the insurance business and began a 27-year career in manufacturing carbide cutting tools. Prior to becoming an owner of his own business in Akron, in 1997, he was Vice-President of Sales for SGS Tool Company. Responsible for worldwide sales, he traveled for many years throughout the United States and approximately 40 countries overseas. He retired in December 2004.
Bru has five children and eight grandchildren, Sons are Michael, Douglas, and Todd, and twin daughters Beth Ann and Leigh Ann, Bru is now a resident of Naples, Florida, but spends several weeks of the year back in Ashland.
Nominator: Bill Rogers
