In Memoriam: Dealer Ed Hubert

Edward Hubert, who was instrumental in growing his family’s business, Hubert Co., into the nation’s ninth-largest E&S dealer, died December 4. He was 75.

“Ed’s passion for the business, our customers, community, and for the employees was boundless,” says Hubert President Mark Rudy. “His opportunistic, entrepreneurial spirit is woven throughout the fabric of Hubert Co., and has been a driving force behind the sustained legacy of success we have enjoyed.”

George Hubert started the family business in 1946, selling equipment to butchers and meat processors. His sons Ed and George Jr. ("Butch") went into the family business as high schoolers, and by the 1960s, they worked full-time producing catalogs and selling products on the road.

After Hubert’s father died in 1980, he shared ownership with other family members and in 1984, joined the company’s board of directors. In 1990, the family relocated the business from downtown Cincinnati to a 500,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Harrison, Ohio. The family sold the business to TAKKT AG in 2000, and today, Hubert Co. has three North America locations with 300 employees. The firm ranked ninth on FER’s 2017 Top Dealers, with $177.6 million in sales.

Hubert and his wife founded the Ed and Joann Hubert Family Foundation in 2003 to support low-income housing, community development, church projects and education. Hubert also helped found Over-the-Rhine-based Urban Sites, a private real estate development company that has saved dozens of historic buildings in Cincinnati. In addition to his wife Joann, brother and nephew, survivors include three children, Cindy Olsen, Greg Hubert and Brian Hubert; a sister, Sharon Hubert, and eight grandchildren.

Services have been held. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Ignatius Tuition Assistance Fund, 5222 North Bend Road, Cincinnati 45247; or St. Vincent de Paul Society, 1125 Bank St., Cincinnati 45214.