Andrew Joseph Rubalcava

Andrew Joseph Rubalcava, age 84, passed away peacefully on May 12, 2020, due to complications related to congestive heart failure.

Born in Bingham, Utah, in 1935, Joe took great pride in the mining community in which he was raised. The seventh child of a large family that emigrated from Mexico, a heritage he always extolled, Joe took advantage of the opportunities life placed before him. At his beloved Bingham High he excelled at sports including basketball, baseball and football. Joe started working at the Bingham Copper Mine before following his older brother, Albert, to Seattle, WA, where he started a career as an aircraft mechanic at Boeing. Joe's skills eventually brought him to southern California to work for the Lockheed Corporation. After several years of courting, he married his sweetheart, Vayle Bradford, in 1973 and the two settled in Palmdale, California, where they raised their three children.

Joe was a man of faith whose personal engagement set a tone that invited his religious community to embrace him and his family. He loved telling about the airplanes he worked on, his favorite being the SR-71 Blackbird. After a hard day's work it was not unusual for Joe to spend several hours maintaining his home. His evenings were usually capped off in bed, in the dim lamp light listening to Vin Scully call the Dodgers play by play. A year never passed in which Joe did not take his family on an adventurous road trip: Visits to Seattle to see family, the Vancouver World's Fair, Virginia Beach, or his favorite campsite at Sand Dollar Beach near Big Sur. But mostly, he was fond of returning to his home state of Utah, where he eventually retired to Nephi. Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt, John Denver and Mariachi was his favorite road music. Joe especially loved his wife's cooking and took every opportunity to brag of it to others.

Joe's children will remember him as a sometimes grumpy disciplinarian, but a father who always found a unique way to show his love and who worked hard to put them on a path to a prosperous life. He will be remembered by his nine grandchildren as "Grandpa Joe" who handed out Red Hots and was quick to make them laugh. Joe was a true beneficiary of the American dream, his posterity being a testament to his hard work and perseverance.

Joe is survived by his wife, Vayle, his children, Roman, Melanie and Olivia, his sister Josephine and brother Ray, and nine adoring grandchildren.

A viewing will be held Thursday, May 21, from 6:00 - 8:00 pm at Anderson Funeral Home (94 West 300 North) Nephi, Utah 84648. A graveside service will be held Friday, May 22, at 2:00 pm at Franklin City Cemetery, 5400 South Hwy 91, Franklin, Idaho 83237. (You are invited to bring a chair to the cemetery for a small program.)