Michael Shubak’s life was never going to be easy.
Born with Down syndrome and autism in 1959, he wasn’t expected to live through his teen years. And that was before he lost his mother to cancer when he was 8.
Those challenges didn’t stop Mr. Shubak, though. Instead, he met all of them to live 60 active years and draw his large family together before he died April 25 at Allegheny General Hospital because of COVID-19.
Mr. Shubak was the oldest of six children born to parents Albert and Helen Shubak, of Hampton. Two of his siblings died as infants, leaving a family unit of five following Helen’s death.
That’s when his remaining siblings stepped up alongside their father to be his champions. Sisters Mary (Limbacher) and Margaret (Adams) and brother John took it upon themselves to continue their mother’s mission of helping Michael live as normal a life as possible.
“I think we all just naturally took on that role of making sure he was safe, making sure he was happy,” Ms. Limbacher said.
“It wasn’t very common to see a person who looked like Michael, that had the [Down] features. If we went out in public, I could remember groups of kids pointing at him and laughing. And I can remember, being the next oldest, I would defend him and tell them ‘He’s not any different than you.’”
Ms. Limbacher said her brother participated in the same activities as the rest of his siblings. And there were a bunch. Swimming. Bowling. Painting. Coloring. And Mr. Shubak loved puzzles, frequently beating his siblings to figuring out the next piece that belonged, an ability his sister called “uncanny.”
He always loved family trips, too, especially to amusement parks, where he got his biggest thrills out of roller coasters.
A loving trust was formed and wasn’t easily replicated. When his father finally found an educational experience that met Mr. Shubak’s needs in Hampton’s former Middle Road School — the conclusion of a search that lasted 12 tough years — Michael often cried at the beginning and end of the day as he coped with the separation from those he loved. He got the hang of the routine, though, learning not just useful life skills but how to bond with others.
Eventually, Mr. Shubak moved into a group home in Green Tree, living under the care of Mercy Behavioral Health. He worked at Goodwill on the South Side for 25 years, hanging clothes, folding boxes and generally serving as the store’s utility man. It was the perfect gig for someone who was meticulously neat, especially when it came to his appearance.
He got to work by riding the bus himself, something Mr. Shubak and his family were very proud of, though he was prone to missing a stop from time to time. One time, he got off at the wrong stop, all the way in Clairton, where a police officer helped guide him to the local fire station until he could arrange safe transportation home. Then it happened again. And again. Suspiciously often. Aides starting asking questions. Was it intentional?
“From what I understand, they gave him pizza, and he was a big fan of Coca-Cola. And they had a dog. So I said, ‘It probably needs to be a little more exciting at home,’” Ms. Limbacher said with a laugh.
Mr. Shubak’s later years brought dementia that required him to move to a new group home with a different type of care. It was there he contracted the novel coronavirus in April along with some of his fellow residents.
Mr. Shubak ran a fever for a few days before his breathing became labored. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed on a ventilator for almost two weeks before only a brief respite. That was when the family faced the difficult choice to decline a second stint on the machine, which few virus patients have been successfully taken off even once.
The siblings gathered at the hospital, where Ms. Limbacher and John Shubak were able to visit their brother in his final hours while wearing protective equipment. Ms. Limbacher said her brother was not responsive but did seem to breathe more easily when they were in the room, with their hands on his shoulders.
Michael Shubak died early the next morning and was buried alongside his parents at Braddock Cemetery, toward the top of the hill at a site that overlooks Kennywood and some of his favorite coasters across the Monongahela River in West Mifflin. It was a nice day with a warm breeze from which Ms. Limbacher and her husband drew comfort, as it reminded them of Michael’s warm hugs.
In lieu of a wake, which is delayed amid the pandemic, Ms. Limbacher has been sharing pictures of Mr. Shubak to help extended family remember him. They’ve also prompted a lot of personal reflection on what he meant to his siblings.
“We loved him, and he loved us,” she said. “It was a blessing in our life that, when so many young parents are still warned against the potential challenges of having a child with special needs, he gave our lives meaning.
“There were things that Michael provided that a typical sibling might or might not. … If he learned to do something, it was 10 times as big as if it had been an individual who didn’t have special needs. ... With Michael, [we] just learned to appreciate life and that individuality and not to have expectations. To really just enjoy the result.”
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: May 7, 2020, 10:00 a.m.