Lt. Col. Daniel Grubidge, Retired U.S.A.F., age 101, of Oshkosh, died on June 4, 2017 at Aurora Medical Center, Oshkosh. He was born in South St. Paul, Minnesota, to the late Vase and Yelka (Loczie) Ostoeic on April 25, 1916.
In April of 1942 Daniel enlisted in the Army Air Corps, which later became the U.S. Air Force. After basic training he was assigned to fly B-17s followed by B-28s, B-29s, KC-97s and KC-135s. After serving in WWII, Daniel participated in the Berlin Airlift, flying B24s.
Daniel rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel and Command Pilot. In addition to flying, Daniel attended F.B.I. and counter intelligence schools, which with his fluency in Serbo-Croatian, Russian and German languages, he worked in the C.I.C., with refugees fleeing Yugoslavia. As an O.S.I. officer in Berlin, Germany, Daniel performed similar tasks, interrogating Eastern European and Russian Refugees, and flying them to Western Germany. In 1955, the Air Force re-assigned Daniel to the United States to fly KC-97s and KC-135s in the Strategic Air Command.
Daniel retired from the Air Force in March of 1965 and moved to Oshkosh with his family. He was a Master Mason, member of El Maida Shrine and Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, and a member of American Legion and V.F.W.
Survivors include: his wife, Dorlis; sons: Stephan (Gretchen) Grubidge, Alexander (Christine) Grubidge; grandchildren: Sabrina and Brandon; and further survived by his children from a former marriage: Joanne (Jim) McIlrath and Daniel J. Grubidge.
Burial will be held at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.