Lloyd H. Tubman

Lloyd H. Tubman, age 69, died peacefully Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at the Hunterdon Medical Center in Raritan Township, NJ, with her family in attendance. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Lloyd was the eldest of nine children of the late Colonel David Heekin and his wife, Elizabeth (Brett) Heekin. Growing up as an Army brat, Lloyd loved filling her little red wagon with library books at Army bases like Fort Leavenworth. She would read biographies going from A to Z and, in school, finished her term assignments in the first two weeks so that she could read her books. Her love of reading and education would later propel her into a career in law. Lloyd was attending interpreter school in Munich when she met her future husband, James Tubman, an Army lieutenant. At age 20 she married and her focus shifted to raising her two daughters. Her children grew up with a rich experience of hiking in Shenandoah and other national parks. When her second daughter began first grade, Lloyd returned to school. Lloyd, a National Merit Scholar, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota. A Shareholder with the law firm of Archer & Greiner, P.C. in Flemington, NJ, Lloyd concentrated her practice in zoning approvals and in federal and state environmental compliance. She was an author and negotiator of the New Jersey Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act, past Chair of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Bar's Land Use Section, and a Governor- appointed member of the New Jersey Tidelands Resource Council. An important part of her practice in recent years was defending the rights of religious denominations to build houses of worship. Most notable was her years' long work to gain approval for the Al Falah Center to establish a mosque in Bridgewater. As Lloyd said, "Al Falah, like any denomination, deserves a home." Lloyd's calmness and ethics are well known by all who worked with her. Lloyd enjoyed her gardening and watching birds attracted to her many feeders. She is survived by her husband of 49 years, James Tubman, her daughters and sons-in-law, Kelly and William Hardy of Baltimore MD, and Shannon Tubman and Matthew Picone of Washington Township NJ; her grandchildren, Sophie, Echo, Connor and Ryan; and her eight siblings, Emily Coe, David Heekin, Susan Marshall, Brett McNamee, Bridget Heekin, Nancy Lescault, Claudia Kasen, and Zachary Heekin, and their families. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Thursday, April 28, 2016, at St. Magdalen Church, 105 Mine Street, Flemington, NJ. Interment will follow in St. Rose of Lima Cemetery, Manalapan, NJ. Visitation will be on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Lloyd’s name may be made to the Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center, 2100 Wescott Drive, Flemington NJ 08822. For further information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.holcombefisher.com.