Navy Badge
  • Name: Sam Dubovich
  • Location of Birth: Grand Rapids, Minnesota
  • Date of Birth: May 29, 1926
  • Date of Death: January 3, 2003
  • Parents: George Dubovich & Rose (Verbonich) Dubovich
  • High School and Class:
  • College:
  • Highest Rank: F1 (Fireman First Class)
  • Branch: Navy
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: September 16, 1944
  • Place Sworn In:
  • Date of Discharge: June 3, 1946
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:

  • Military Highlights:
    WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
    State: Minnesota
    Name: Sam Dubovich
    Race: White
    Age: 18
    Birth Date: May 29, 1926
    Birth Place: Grand Rapids, Minnesota, USA
    Residence Place: Marble, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
    Registration Date: June 2, 1944
    Employer: Mesaba-Cliffs Mining Co., Marble, Itasca, Minnesota
    Weight: 185
    Height: 6
    Complexion: Light
    Eye Color: Brown
    Hair Color: Brown
    Next of Kin: George Dubovich, Marble, Itasca, Minnesota

    Newspaper article: 1944 – “SIX IN SERVICE – Pvt. Eli Dubovich, Geiger Field, Washington, is spending a furlough with his folks. The Duboviches have five sons and one daughter in the service: Anne, S2/c, Memphis, Tennessee; Sam, A/S, Farragut, Idaho; Steve,
    F2/c, with a San Francisco address; George, AOM3/c, Seattle, Washington; and Cpl. Mike with an APO number with a New York address.”

  • Wars Involved:
    World War II

  • MIA / POW:

  • Civilian Life:
    Sam Dubovich attended school in the Greenway school district, Coleraine, Minnesota and the National School of Meat Cutting in Toledo, Ohio. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, aboard the aircraft carrier “Intrepid” in the Asiatic Pacific Theater. He married DeLayne Mickelson Tahtinen in Minnesota in 1953. He was a life-time member and past commander of the Poppe-Smuk-Appelget American Legion Post 327 of Marble; was a member of the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 1061 of Bovey; served as a Greenway Township supervisor for 16 years; served as an Itasca County sheriff’s deputy for five years; and was employed by the Cleveland Cliffs Mining Company for 39 years as a maintenance and auto mechanic.

    Sam Dubovich died in Marble, Minnesota and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Coleraine, Minnesota (Serbian section). He is survived by his wife, DeLayne; a step-son, Frank (Evelyn) Tahtinen; a step-daughter, Paula (Kenny) Lawson; two sons, Thomas and Michael (Terri); eight grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; two sisters, Anne Georgiff and May Dimatteo; and five brothers, Mike, George, Dan, Paul and Steve. He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Draga Shevich, Sadie Elich and Mary Plecas; and brothers, Nick and Eli.

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):