In Loving Memory
Lance Raymond Chubbic
April 14, 1964 – October 4, 2023
Virtual Celebration of Life
Sunday, December 10, 2023
6:00 PM PST
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Video Recording of Celebration of Life
Obituary of Lance Raymond Chubbic
Lance Raymond Chubbic was born on April 14th 1964 and left us on October 4th 2023. He was the first child of Jeannie and Steve and the first grandbaby for both the Chubbic and Blasdell families. While many facts and dates can be used to tell Lance’s story, descriptive nouns might be better: professional bicycle racer, commercially licensed pilot, motorcycle racer/mechanic, diver, snorkeler, professional model (member of SAG), world traveler, sound engineer, business owner, musician, brother, son, fitness nerd, yoga enthusiast, sous chef, trusted friend, poet, movie buff, sharing soul, and humble human all have a place in the lexicon of Lance.
Lance was a natural talent – in just about everything he tried. His brother has joked that Lance would find an interest and embrace it, learning and practicing until he stopped just shy of master. Then he would find a new interest to learn and practice and hone. He was physically gifted and would play around with a piece of new equipment until he had it just right, by physical feel alone. Lance was a consummate teacher. To participate in an adventure with Lance meant that he would take charge of setting you up with great equipment and would focus on teaching you some specific skills for the exact experience you were about to have, so you could have a great time doing whatever you were doing. He would often record the fun you were having and share footage with you later. He greatly enjoyed playing with his beloveds and thrilled at exploring the world together.
Lance took opportunities to say kind things to people he cherished, leaving messages on their voice mail or texts of appreciation on a random day. He was friendly across generations and was able to pal around with someone 30 years younger, as well as someone 30 years older. He had friends from all walks of life and he learned from each of them. He had a quick wit and would regularly trade one-liners with Bugs Bunny fans, or even crack himself up as he imagined a response to a mundane event as it might be scripted and then acted out, as an audacious film clip of sarcasm or silliness or stoicism.
Lance learned humility through healing from addiction. He came to know that all people are valuable, and he came to speak lovingly of those with whom he had stark differences. This remarkable ability to love the whole person, to see the beauty amidst the flaws, became a hallmark of who Lance was and how he walked through life. About 12 years ago Lance approached his siblings and told them how much he loved them, and how much he now understood he had missed out as a kid by keeping them at arm’s length, as so many oldest siblings do. He vowed to be more available and present moving forward… and that man grew those friendships and relationships into a tight web of love, respect, and good-natured teasing.
Lance is survived by his Dad, Steve Chubbic (Diana), sister Dena, brother Dirk (Erica), nephew Ayden, niece Amara, and a whole body of dear cousins, aunts, uncles, step-family, friends, and chosen family. Lance was not a “go in peace” kinda guy. He was “all adventures, all the time.” He is dearly missed.
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I want to thank Lance’s family for the beautiful memorial. And to pass on that he told me how it was wonderful that you pulled together so well with his Mom’s passing. His love for you was enormous.
Thank you to everyone for the Lance Adventure stories. I thought I was one of the few who had them (for 41 years–not enough). I’m delighted to find he shared his adventure gift with many. We are blessed. I’ll share just one, where he invited me to watch him at a bicycle race. Pointing to a corner of the track, he told me to watch the pack come around the corner. “I’ll be in front.” And of course he was.
The best thing was how present he was. I remember calling him long ago, when I was incoherent with grief. He stepped out of a party and listened to me make no sense for hours. I’m so happy no one else heard that. He was a safe place for sharing the most important things.
He taught me so much. Not because he was a perfect model. But he wrestled mightily and well with his flaws. And he was a perfect friend.
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How I wish I’d had more chances to get to know Lance—we never know how long we have. But I’ll remember that the last time I spoke to him, he was doing hard work to help me and others, cheerfully moving furniture—a far cry from skydiving, but he clearly didn’t feel that it was beneath him.
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We love the Chubbic family. We’re so sorry for the loss of Lance. We know our God is the healer of the brokenhearted and able to give peace. It’s our wish, you would have His comfort today and always.
Shannon & Ray
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Lance taught me how to frisbee. He was patient, kind, and persistent. Every time I throw a frisbee I think of him & I am grateful he was my teacher.
Thank you Lance for this memory.
Love,
Karin
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I always looked up to Lance as the coolest person I knew, and wanted so much to be like him. He was such an inspiration and a joy to be with. The world is diminished without him.
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Lance taught me how to ride an off-road motorcycle, made me better at road and single track cycling, and introduced me to a number of wonderful folks and worldviews. I wish I’d been close with him for more than 4-odd years.
I remember his apparent timidity when he and I and Jeff Patrick were doing our first few ski runs in the halfpipe, and then in a terrain park class . But of course his runs got better every time, while mine were erratic. He explained that the key is to take it really easy at first, and just get 5% better every time. And that lesson has helped me ever since. Lance was the most generous and effective teacher and guide to physical accomplishment that I have ever heard of, let alone met. He was excellent at so many things, but always saw himself as a humble fellow student of life.
I am so glad we got to reconnect last summer in Denver, although now I’m sure I’ll miss him even more.
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I became an aunt when Lance was born; I was eighteen years old. Our lives have been intertwined ever since. He enriched my life in so many ways. Lance never offered to have me take over the controls of an airplane, swim with sharks, or skydive…I love that he knew me and invited me into his life in ways that he knew would give me joy.
Through the years, Lance introduced me to interesting women he was dating. We once enjoyed lunch with a delightful NPR television reporter. Because Lance knew I love art, he’d chosen to meet at the Getty Museum restaurant.
He knew I love basketball, so he arranged for us to have tickets to an NBA playoff game. Coming out of the VIP restaurant, Magic Johnson even spoke to me. (“Excuse me, mam’”, as he passed me in the hallway 🙂 Lance was never awed by celebrities…they were just people like anyone else.
Lance gave me the gift of taking me to two houses he was doing visual and audio work in. One was a uniquely designed, beautiful home on the sand in Malibu. The other was Peter Jackson’s home, a Frank Lloyd Wright house. That Christmas, he gave me a coffee table book of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work.
Some of my happiest times with Lance were when he’d want me to ride with him in his car so he could share the new music he was passionate about.
Ocean waves were a love Lance and I shared…from when he was a toddler and I was dangling his feet in the water to when we body surfed the same waves together to when he’d ride a few with me then swim out to catch the big ones.
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I don’t have to worry about Lance popping up after a 60 ‘ free dive, but now when I look over my left shoulder who will be there to help me out of the ocean and take my gear? I’ll miss my diving buddy, he was everyone’s playmate, even an old lady’s. I’ve watched him rescue so many from a rough Maui surf. A frequent house guest I loved him dearly and will miss him so.
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Oh too soon my friend.
Lance and I met through motorcycle roadracing. I was ending my career as a roadracer, and he was fascinated to learn more. He always had such a curiosity about so many things, and truly respected those that were masters of it. Whether it was motorcycles, business, art or music, he wanted to know more. With such a kind soul and the handsome devil he was, the one thing that struggled him was finding a partner. I always wish that that thirst could’ve been quenched. Lance was very special kind and generous and he deserved someone special. His addiction got in the way of many things. This may have been one of them. I know it became very difficult in our relationship. After many years of rehab, Lance reached out to me. , He worked very hard to repair our relationship. I thoroughly and truly appreciated his efforts and he and I came along way. He enjoyed the peace and serenity of being here at my home and it wasn’t too far from his fathers place. He spent many weeks here, helping me out with the endless chores that go on with being on the large property. Whether it was helping, build a deck, clearing trees, or the multitude of other chores, he was eagerly happy to help.
He was here for a couple of days just before going to that fateful track day. We had spoke on the phone within the hour of his accident. He was so happy and it was fun that he was sharing it with me. The absurdity of the incident is not lost on me.
And I know it wasn’t lost on him, and he had to of been laughing and chuckling, realizing he was going to end up in the dirt and scuffed up from that.
Really, a day spent at 150 miles an hour and a skateboard is what did it? It’s just not right. Yet it’s a lesson we should all be aware of.
From my perspective, the past couple of years had been a rebirth for him. It’s so unfair.
It’s a privilege that I got to call him friend, again.
Godspeed Lance.
To his entire family, and all who knew him, my sincere condolences, and he will truly be missed.
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I had the pleasure of meeting and be friending Lance down here in Maui Hawaii. I was actually his Freediving instructor. Lance took to Freediving like any of his other adventures. He was great at it. He came out on my boat and we had a lot of beautiful days together. It saddens me to hear the news of him passing but if I know him, he had probably enjoyed a day out on his motorcycle having the best day of his life. So I hope he went with a smile on his face after doing some awesome laps and relishing life like he always did. From adventure to another. My deepest condolences. He was truly an awesome person. I will miss seeing him and Diving with him here in paradise. He will most definitely be remembered –
Javier Cantellops
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Lance thank you for coming into my life when I needed to experience that there are man’s out there who you can trust who take you exactly for who you are without any judgement and what really hit me who can fully be there and listen with a open kind heart ❤️
Thank you for helping me to open again my heart 💜
Much love to you now on the other side and much ALOHA to your family and friends who all loved and appreciated you as I did 🌈
Aloha Nui Daniela
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I never met Lance, but I know him through his loving father Steve. I know of Lance’s struggle with addiction which was as difficult as any of his many athletic accomplishments. The thing about addiction is you can never say, “I got this” and move on to the next adventure. Lance knew that sobriety was something you pay attention to everyday. I admire Lance for his daily dedication to the
“good life” of sobriety. He is truly the hero of his own story.
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I’m afraid I don’t recognize who wrote this about Lance but you did a fine job. Not much more could be added.
I’m Lance’s Aunt Mary, living in Lakewood, CO. Lance came as often as he could to visit me and my son, Will , (who became more like a brother than a cousin) and my daughter, Katharine, with whom he spent a lot of time with at her home, They had a good chance to really get to know each other even better. We all learned to love Lance even more than before. What a special man!!!!
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Brilliant, clever adventurer, friend and colleague. Peace brother, thankful for our time together on land, in sky in mirth and spirit.
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My condolences to the family for their loss. I have known Lance since 1986 and was close with him until the late 1990’s. Unfortunately we lost touch after that and I regret not making more of an effort to reach out. He and I shared some special times together(bicycling, flying, working, and just hanging out too) and I knew him to be an incredibly bright, articulate, talented and adventurous person whose infectious smile always lit up a room.
May his memory be a blessing to the Chubbic family. Lance was one special guy.
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From being someone I worked with to becoming a great friend, he was always a pleasure to hang out with. We shared many of the same interest and hobbies and always found time to discuss common interest, motorcycles mostly, but even other non moto related topics as well. I will always treasure my friendship with him. I will miss you my friend, Godspeed buddy!
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36 years a friend. Some years hanging out a lot, some years hanging out a little, and too many years not hanging out at all — but always a friend.
Funny story time… I would always be available to fly when Lance called. I loved being up in the little Cessna, flying to Catalina for a Buffalo Burger, or practicing touch and go’s at some little airport. But I didn’t know what was in store a day he called and asked, “Hey, can you be at the airport in an hour?”
I knew something was up when it was a different plane, and there was someone else coming along as well. “So,” I asked, after introductions, and after we’re in the air, “where are we headed?”. “To the empty mountain areas near Magic Mountain, so that if we crash, we don’t hit anyone…” said the new guy. I must have missed something. “How do you know Lance?”… “I’m the flight instructor, this is a Stunt Plane, and Lance is about to test for his Stunt Pilot License… Here are some barf bags.”
So for an hour it was loops, dead spins, crazy 8s, and all the while I just KNOW he’s doing a little extra to try to break my steely stomach constitution… It was awesome.
Lance was also the instigator to jump OUT of a perfectly good airplane, got me into canyon riding when he got an 888 and sold me his 851, got me into poker and his poker group and more… Basically, Lance was responsible for a lot of the fun I had after college.
Finally, there was his heart. I had 2, maybe 3 friends in life that I could really open up to, and Lance was one of them… and that says everything.
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Lance was my best friend as a child, I was there when he learned how to skateboard and was amazed on how fast he could master things. As a kid he used to go to his neighbors house who had muscular dystrophy to help him build models. We wound up going to separate high schools and slowly lost contact. 40 years later we reconnected and started making plans to do stuff together again. Unfortunately Lance was offered a job in Las Vegas and moved away. I hooked him up with one of my best clients in Nevada and the two of them started working together. I was really looking forward to seeing Lance on my Vegas trips. He was a kind and thoughtful soul who was always willing to reach out to help ( even strangers). He also had a mischievous side. We once went to see a friend of mines band play. Some lady started throwing indoor snowballs at us and Lance quickly returned fire…………resulting in a snowball fight that lasted over an hour. I’m going to miss that guy, rest in peace my friend.
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I didn’t know Lance well, but after only a short hike with him,
I could tell what a kind and gentle soul he was. Also quite adventurous! I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to get to know him, and I send Steve, Diana and their entire family love, warmth and prayers during this time of healing.
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I didn’t know Lance well, but I considered him one of my coolest cousins. He had a mystical way with animals that amazed me. His smile always struck me as a window into who he was. His wit was razor sharp. He surprised me and Monica by visiting on his way through town in September. I’m so glad he did. We got to know him on a different level even in that short time. We love you, Lance.
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I didn’t know Lance well, but he struck me as a very physically and emotionally strong guy with a poetic heart and sensitive soul. I am sure he is adventuring on in the afterlife, but will be missed in this one by family and friends.
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I love that he went out on a wonderful, high note kind of day, every opportunity seized, nothing done half way. Lance, Dena and I would often crack up into belly laughs when together, brought on by quotations from Looney Toons or movies.
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I’m saddened to read this news. Rest in peace dear friend. 🙏🏼
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Hello Lance
Thank you for showing me how to be a sponge about life, and sharing your sponge with me. You have introduced me to family and friends that have enriched my experience; and in this Memorial you will bless me with more – by proxy. Please continue to be a proxy for me and all. Your spirit is really very alive.
“The grave is home plate – I want to come sliding into it…”
~John of Pittsburgh, CBS Sunday Morning 9/8/19
“A bit of madness is key
to give us the colors to see.”
~Emma Stone, in the 2017 movie La La Land
“The souls of the dead are only free when someone alive recalls them to memory and thinks of them. Then go forth, my dear one. Or come back, if you will. You are not forgotten. You are free.”
~ T. Jefferson Parker, a novelist from Orange County
I think of you daily, sometimes obsessively.
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How fortunate I was to see Lance just a couple of weeks before his passing. We walked the beach in Del Mar and had a great one on one conversation. Forever grateful.
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Laughing at Lance’s quick wit, witnessing his prowess, enjoying his music, sharing his adventures, relying on his help, and discussing his musings were familiar blessings that I enjoyed as a matter of course–they had always, would always be part of my life, enhancing my life. Suddenly, though, my beloved family tree has lost an enormous branch. I cannot comprehend that he is gone.
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Lance was always the coolest. I definitely looked up to him and will miss his laugh.