Mr. Hubert Alfred Kahlich Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

HUBERT ALFRED KAHLICH B: 06-29-1939 -- D: 06-10-2018 “Well, I guess it’s time to call it a day. I’m ready.” Hubert Kahlich quietly left the room on Sunday, June 10th, after living 78 fulfilling years. He is preceded in death by his wife, Nancy Strand, his brother Hans, and his parents Anna and Otto. Hubert Alfred Kahlich was born in Freistadt, the Czech Republic, and grew up in Goeppingen, Germany. After graduating from Hochschule, he went on to apprentice in restaurants in Stuttgart. Taking advantage of a free promotional flight to London, he built up his culinary and English skills for two years before leaving the swinging London lifestyle for a life at sea. Hubert served as chef and then as steward on the Swedish passenger ship S.S. Gripsholm. And thanks to a Swedish port of call, his life changed course again when he met Nancy Strand at a dance in Gothenberg. He emigrated to the United States in 1964. He spent the rest his life living and working in the Greater Chicago Area, first at the Seven Continents Restaurant, then at the Drake Hotel, and on to a career in private club management, as General Manager of the Inverness Country Club, the Covenant Club, the East Bank Club, the Rolling Green Country Club, and finally Oak Park Country Club. He was a long-standing and active member of the Greater Chicago Club Manager’s Association (GCCMA) and the Catering Executives Club of America. Hubert was the deeply proud father of his four children: Steven, Susanne, Michael, and Jason Kahlich; loving father-in-law to Dana Mudd and Natasha Glushkoff, and the proud and indulgent grandfather of Calvin Kahlich, and Lorelei and Melisande Glushkoff-Kahlich. He was the loving brother of Anne Marie Schweikardt and Margrete Brandt, and the affable brother-in-law of Frances West, Joan Strand, and Volker Schweikardt. He was loving uncle to Rolf Brandt, Susanne Braehler, Ute Retzlaff, Andreas Schweikardt, Wolfgang Kahlich, Jennifer Sorgatz, Scott Strand, Tim Strand, Nico Strand, Andrea Rheinhardt, Jessica Ulrickson, and Anna Britta Barrett. He leaves behind many friends, including The Buddies: Jovan, Doc, Peter and Peter, Milo, and Fritz; his dear friends Barbara and Tracy; his AA friends, sponsors and sponsees, especially his close friend Paddy; Richard, Helen and all his friends at Oak Park Tennis Club; all his golfing buddies, and many others we are still meeting as time goes on. For a man of few words, his actions spoke volumes in the profound way he touched so many people from all walks of life. Hubert will be fondly remembered as a loving father, loyal friend, dry and quiet wit, authoritative but generous manager, sharp dresser, athletic prowess, ability to avoid sweating, natural sailor and skier, proud German and US citizen, and an enigmatic hell of a guy. Acknowledgements and Thank Yous Hubert Kahlich passed away on Sunday June 10th at 2:55pm, surrounded by his four children. It was a quiet and peaceful transition, and we all had a chance to talk to him, tell him we love him and thank him for everything he gave us, over the two days before. His last full sentence to us was “I guess it’s time to call it a day. I’m ready.” He was prepared to go and, knowing him, probably impatient to get going. It was hard for all of us to see Hubert suffer, and for us, his family, a huge relief to let him go. Don't get me wrong: we miss him terribly; we never wanted to say goodbye, and we wish we could have spent many more years with him. But he was such an active man his whole life, and the things he loved to do most were playing tennis and golf. Without being able to do those things, he would have been very, very unhappy. And he wasn’t, by nature, an unhappy man. We're glad he did get in one more tennis game a couple of weeks ago, and a last cigar. A few of you also were able to send messages that we were sad to deliver, but so proud to be able to tell our dad how much he meant to so many. And a couple of you also were able to visit him in the hospital and send him on his way with love and friendship in his heart. On behalf of myself and my brothers, Steven, Michael and Jason, our cousins Tim, Scott, Nico, Andrea, Jessica and Anna Britta, Rolf, Wolfgang, Susanne, Ute and Andreas, our dad’s sisters Grete and Anne, his brother-in-law Volker and sister-in-law Frances, we would like to thank all of you for the deep love and support, laughter and friendship you shared with Hubert over the years, and especially over the past 18 months. Our sincerest thanks to Oak Park Country Club, Rolling Green Country Club, the GCCMA, and the Catering Executives of America for remembering Hubert with such generosity, dignity and respect. Thank you also to the many friends at Oak Park Tennis Club, and the companion clubs in the Bahamas, Florida, and everywhere Hubert hit the courts. Your welcoming and true friendship to him over the years brought him so much happiness and pleasure, we cannot possibly thank you enough for the joy you brought into our dad’s life. We hope his memory lives on with each drop shot, every backspin, and every time you smash it down the line. And remember: never let ‘em see you sweat. We thank his good friends Paddy and Greg, who have spent so many years with Hubert, supporting each other in sobriety, holding each other up, and helping each other through, one day at a time. Your open spirits and strength gave Hubert strength, too, and your solid circle of support and commitment was a source of quiet pride in his life. We know he was a good mentor, and a good learner too, and we are so grateful that you found each other on your journeys. Our very deep and profound thank you to Tracy, who has been a daily part of Hubert’s life for the past twenty years. You included Hubert in your life, and he included you in his, as friends and confidants and colleagues. You learned from him, and you gave back to him by keeping him connected to the world he devoted so much of his life to…. And keeping him connected to your family and your life in a way that only real friends can, sharing the triumphs and the bumps in the road, a friendship of pure giving and open hands and sharing life simply because you liked each other. Thank you, Tracy, for being such a good, and dear, friend. We’d like to especially express our gratitude to his wonderful doctors, Dr Grendon and Dr Gilman for their care and their friendship too, and for sharing stories with us about our dad. Your help with his cancer and your kindness in his transition has helped us as well, and we are so grateful to you. And lastly, The Buddies: Jovan, Peter, Peter, Milo, Fritz, Doc and the rest of your old gang. You were Hubert’s first friends here in this new country, his points of contact and his touchstones in times good and bad. You teased each other, you bet against each other all the time, you had adventures and laughs and ups and downs. You grew old together. You have spent a lifetime together, you Buddies, and you are the cherished keepers of Hubert’s oldest memories and his most treasured moments in life. You were the core of his being outside of his family, and you are family to us. Our hearts are full but our words can never be enough to tell you how grateful we are to be a part of your lives, and that you have been so long a part of our dad’s. Thank you to all of you. We love you too. We thank all of you who have gathered here today to commemorate the life and friendship of Hubert Kahlich, who have shared his life and made it richer too through your friendship and love. Thank you very much for coming. If you would like to stay in touch with Hubert’s family, you are welcome to contact any of his children through his daughter Susie Kahlich at sekahlich@gmail.com .

Mr. Hubert Alfred Kahlich

June 29, 1939 - June 10, 2018