Josh Rubin

Josh Rubin passed away on November 22, 2025, after more than 13 years of fighting cancer, with his wife Kathy by his side. He was 69.

Josh was born on March 9, 1956, in Queens, NY, and lived in New York City for most of his life. He attended Bronx Science High School and MIT and finished his bachelor’s degree at Queens College decades later. He was part of the first wave of computer programmers, and his jobs included programming the leader boards for the U.S. Open and doing mysterious work for the NSA. (He thinks. No one ever says for sure.) His coolest and favorite job was working for the Reuters News Agency.

Mathematics, science, and cycling were his greatest joys. In 1973, he placed third in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, a national competition for high school students. He was an “A” rider in the kind-of-snooty New York Cycle Club and led rides throughout the greater New York City area. He loved a physical challenge. He climbed Mount Rainer when he was 14 and finished a century (100-mile) ride from Queens to the tip of Long Island months after recovering from a 9 ½ - hour brain surgery (6 months for his skull to heal, a couple months to train). Kath and a friend were at the finish line to celebrate, which he found annoying. Apparently not a spectator sport.

In 2018, he moved to Athens, OH, so that Kath could be closer to her family and fulfill a lifelong dream of buying patio furniture from Lowes. This was incredibly brave and generous. He knew no one except for an overwhelming array of Kath’s relatives. He didn’t drive. He was 78 miles from the expert cancer care available in Columbus. Kath used to hear helicopters (which, in rural southeastern Ohio, were probably Life Flights) and think, “I hope that isn’t us one day.” It never was.

Josh was an inspired cook and always cleaned up afterward. He was a converted dog lover, one dog at a time. He was thoughtful, compassionate, and curious. A champion of the underdog. A Constitution-carrying member of the ACLU who signed his emails with “Don’t encourage hatred.”

Josh is survived by his wife of ten years (plus sixteen years as partners before that), Kathy Kinsner; siblings Deborah Rubin (John Ziv) and Dan Rubin (Callie Wilson); sisters-in-law Sue Pepper Warga (Tim) and Lisa Scheer (Steve); nephews Jas Rubin, Jack Pepper (Jordan), Rob Pepper (Melissa), and Patrick Pepper (Elizabeth); niece Chandra Rubin; more than a dozen great-nieces and -nephews, young family friends Ashley Mitchell and Lian Wachspress, and dog Rosie.

The family wishes to thank the many neighbors and health care professionals—both mental and physical—who helped Josh survive and thrive, including Hopewell Health, the James Cancer Center, members of Christ Lutheran Church, Dodd Hall Rehab, Castrop Rehab, the Athens Village, Dina’s Compassion Care, the Laurels, OhioHealth HomeReach Hospice, and last and certainly not least, the Lindley Inn.

Donations in Josh’s honor may be made to the following: NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) of Athenshttps://namiathensohio.org/, Doctors without Bordershttps://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/, or the ACLUhttps://www.aclu.org/.

A celebration of life (maybe a memorial bike ride) will be planned for spring. Arrangements have been entrusted to Hughes Funeral Home of Athens.