Joseph Brubaker Jr

    Joseph H. Brubaker Jr., an auditor with Aetna Insurance for 30 years, died at home in East Hampton on Sunday of complications from heart disease. He was 76.

    “He was basically very quiet, gentle. He liked to sit and read books,” said Diane Brubaker, Mr. Brubaker’s wife of 35 years. Mr. Brubaker and the former Diane Hildreth were married in 1976. “It started as a blind date. He was a sweet man,” Mrs. Brubacker said.

    He was born on April 5, 1935, in South Fork, Pa., a son of Joseph H. Brubaker Sr. and the former Mary Endler. He moved to East Hampton as a boy and graduated from East Hampton High School, where he played football and baseball.

    Mr. Brubaker graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., with the class of 1957. He began his career with Aetna at the company’s Hartford, Conn., headquarters right out of school, but left the company for two years to serve a hitch with the Navy at Norfolk, Va., before returning.

    Mrs. Brubaker said her husband was an internal auditor for the company, which meant he traveled from office to office to look at the books. When Aena downsized by letting older employees go, Mrs. Brubaker said her husband went to work for the St. Paul Fire and Marine insurance company for six years before retiring.

    In addition to his wife, Mr. Brubaker is survived by a daughter, Jennifer Lyons of East Hampton. He also leaves his sisters, Ethel MacGarva and Almeda Rickenbach, both of East Hampton. His brother, Ronald, and sister Arlene Hoadley died before him. Funeral arrangements were private.