Long Island builder Alois Rubenacker, of Glen Head, dies at 92

Long Island builder Alois Rubenacker never needed to advertise because he was skilled in every stage of home construction and accounted for expenses to clients, his family said.

“Always be honest,” his son and business partner Eric Rubenacker recounted of his father’s lessons. “Customers get copies of every receipt, everything we spent on the project, right down to the $2 box of nails.”

The founder of Rubenacker Contracting, Alois Rubenacker was climbing atop house frames well into his 80s to ensure quality work but eventually agreed to focus on the paper side of contracting, said Eric Rubenacker, of Glen Head. Perusing house plans, the elder Rubenacker could break down what was needed, from the number of tiles to labor, showing a mind that was sharp until his last day, his children said.

Alois Rubenacker died of cardiac arrest on May 7 in his armchair, with his favorite show, "Seinfeld," on television, his family said. The Glen Head resident was 92.

“He died the way he wanted to, in that house, built with his own hands,” said his youngest son, Steve Rubenacker, of Centerport.

Alois Rubenacker grew up the second of five boys in Ozone Park, Queens, and when their father died, he and his older brother supported the family by working in the building trades, the profession for generations of Rubenackers.

Out of the thousand or so houses and mansions he constructed in Nassau and Queens, Rubenacker was proudest of his modest two-floor Cape he finished in 1957 with his father and brothers, his family said. When a kitchen fire burned the house in the ’70s, he rebuilt it, adding two bedrooms. When the home turned 50, Rubenacker held a party, complete with photos of family members working on it.

He volunteered his skills whenever called, making repairs at his church, coaching children’s sports and serving as a grand knight and treasurer at the Knights of Columbus in Sea Cliff.

“Charity was in his heart,” said his friend Richard Alois, a past leader at the Knights of Columbus. “He was just a very dedicated person.”

The young man known as Al could have been an architect or engineer but preferred working with his hands, his sons said. A master carpenter, he created furniture for the family and toys for the children, including a dollhouse that’s been passed down to his great-grandchildren.

His talents saved him from the Korean War when he was drafted into the Army in 1952, family members said. He was sent to Greenland, where he helped build an air defense base known by its code name, Operation Blue Jay.

Occupying time was challenging as the base waited for building supplies, Rubenacker told his family. He began a lifelong hobby, putting together wooden model ships sent to him by his future wife, Geraldine Southwick, who grew up in his Ozone Park neighborhood.

After his discharge in 1954, he and Southwick married. The couple wanted to start a family, but Geraldine’s doctor warned that her health issues made childbearing risky. The couple adopted three children over the years, then had a surprise pregnancy with their fourth child.

Rubenacker was an especially committed father, his children said. His arm could hurt from hammering all day or he’d be tired after long days sweating in the summer, but he couldn’t say no to his kids waiting for him with fishing poles at end of their driveway.

Eric Rubenacker remembers digging holes daily in the backyard as a boy to create rivers, resulting in muddy streams flowing down the driveway.

“It made him crazy, but he didn’t discourage it because it kept me busy,” he recalled. “Instead of stopping me, he showed me how to build little sailboats … to make the experience even better.”

In addition to his two sons, Alois Rubenacker is survived by his daughter, Mary Rubenacker Kahrs, of Kings Park; son Alois Rubenacker Jr., of Mandeville, Louisiana; and brothers Karl Rubenacker Jr., of Glendale, Queens, and John Rubenacker, of Fairfax Station, Virginia.

A funeral Mass was celebrated May 11 at St. Boniface Martyr Church in Sea Cliff, followed by cremation. Rubenacker's ashes are expected to be interred with his wife's in the summer at Locust Valley Cemetery.