James Dubé, PharmD, a retired specialist in chronic pain management, died July 24. He was 87.
Dubé spent 34 years at UNMC, including 17 years as director of pharmacy. He was in high demand as a specialist in chronic pain management and made presentations on that topic to health professionals in 43 states.
He also was a key player in developing the clinical pharmacy curriculum, said Clarence Ueda, PharmD, PhD, who joined the UNMC College of Pharmacy in 1974 and served as dean from 1987 to 2007.
“When the B.S. degree in pharmacy was commonplace at the time, and the UNMC College of Pharmacy became only the third pharmacy school in the nation to offer the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) as its sole degree program in 1976, Jim was a key player in the development of the clinical pharmacy curriculum,” Dr. Ueda said. “His vision, no nonsense, ‘get ’er done’ attitude and approach greatly assisted the college in making the transition to the PharmD curriculum.”
A native of Denver, Colorado, Dubé joined UNMC in 1967, following a five-year stint at a downtown Omaha drugstore. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy at UNMC while working on campus full-time. In 2001, he retired from UNMC and worked five additional years as a medical liaison for a major pharmaceutical company, focusing on the safe prescription of opioid pain medications. During this time, he also served as director of the Nebraska Pain Relief Initiative.
An Army veteran, Dubé enjoyed traveling the world and, in retirement, treasured time at Woodcliff Lake with his family and grandchildren. On his LinkedIn account, the retiree wrote: “Stay retired even though the pay sucks.”
Dubé is survived by his wife, Caroline, three children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
A funeral service will be Wednesday, July 31, at 10:30 a.m., at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, 1920 N. 102nd St. in Omaha.
Visitation with the family begins Tuesday, July 30, at 5 p.m., at the John A. Gentleman Mortuaries Pacific Street Chapel, 14151 Pacific St., with a wake service at 7 p.m. His ashes will be interred separately at Omaha National Cemetery by the family at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Leo Catholic Church or to the Nebraska Pain Initiative via the Nebraska Hospice and Palliative Care Association.
Dr. Dube was one awesome dude. He was a fountain of information and had a stellar sense of humor. He was especially adept at doing media interviews. I always loved working with him – he was a great man!
We all loved Dr. Dube- whether he was teaching us about gout by showing us his tophi or superbly teaching us how to care for our patients in pain. We knew he cared about US, too. My condolences to his family, he was loved by his legions of students and all who worked with him.
I knew Dr. DuBe in his role as Director of Pharmacy. He was a transformational leader in pharmacy practice and education. Pharmacy fellows always accompanied him to meetings with Hospital Administration. I could count on Jim to come up with innovative solutions to the challenges we faced together. I knew I should always pass on the first solution he offered and we would eventually reach the one that was best for students, patients, staff, and the hospital. His contributions will live on…