Grand Traverse Distillery's Landis Rabish dies

Mark Urban, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·4 min read

Mar. 29—TRAVERSE CITY — Grand Traverse Distillery has been all about family since it opened in 2005.

The first northern Michigan distillery will now lean on its close-knit staff following the death of master distiller Landis Rabish Friday after an eight-month battle with glioblastoma, according to his obituary from Reynolds Jonkhoff Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

Rabish was 37.

"When he got out of college, this is what he did," Grand Traverse Distillery Founder Kent Rabish said of his son, who joined the company and worked in sales and production for half a dozen years before becoming master distiller.

Landis was born Aug. 14, 1985, in Traverse City to Kent and Cindy (Laurell) Rabish. He graduated from Traverse City Central High School in 2004 and continued on to Central Michigan University "where he met the love of his life, Becky VanValkenburg, and the two have been inseparable since that first semester of their freshman year," according to his obituary. "Even though their time was cut short, they were fortunate to have found one another so young and to have built such an amazing life together."

Landis is survived by Becky, whom he married in 2010. He also leaves behind three boys, Max, age 7, Van, 5, and Leo, 18 months.

"As a parent, it's the hardest part," Kent said. "No. 1, it's your son. But you also have grandkids that will grow up without a father.

"Our whole goal is to support Becky and the kids."

When you run a distillery, it's appropriate to raise a glass in tribute and that's what Grand Traverse Distillery is planning. Kent said Grand Traverse Distillery will release one of Landis' favorite creations in the next couple of weeks.

It's a product the company has never sold before.

"He did a great job in production," Kent said of Landis. "He came up with some really unique whiskeys and his favorite was a 100-percent malted barley smoked with cherry wood.

"We are going to donate one barrel of the whiskey, open it up and serve it in our store and 100 percent of the sales will go to the kids' college fund."

Kent said longtime employee Chris Noel filled in at Grand Traverse Distillery when the glioblastoma diagnosis was made last summer. Kent said it was a collective effort at the distillery located at 781 Industrial Circle and throughout the company, which has year-round tasting rooms in downtown Traverse City and Frankenmuth as well as seasonal locations.

"We've got a really good group of people," Kent said.

He said he was amazed at the number of people who reached out to the family after hearing about Landis' death, and that the family received many calls, texts and emails.

"So many people have reached out and said, 'What can we do? How can we help?' "

Chris Fredrickson, co-founder and president of Traverse City Whiskey Co., said the distilling community lost a young talent.

"Our team at Traverse City Whiskey Co was saddened to hear of Landis Rabish's passing," Frederickson said in an email. "Although we didn't know each other well, this is a significant loss for the northern Michigan community and larger whiskey world."

Visitation for Landis will begin at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home, with a memorial gathering at 3:30 p.m., according to his obituary. Thoughts and memories can be shared with his family at www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com. The obituary, which said Rabish "maintained his unique 'Landisness'" during his glioblastoma diagnosis, also reminded that Thursday's service is "a celebration of life; no need to wear black."

In addition to Becky and his three sons, Landis is survived by his parents; his siblings, Andrew (Jennifer) McGhan, Steven Rabish, and Claire Moen; his grandmothers, Therese Rabish and Barbara Bradford; his in-laws, Robert and Kelly VanValkenburg; and brothers, Joe (Abbey) VanValkenburg and Matt (Lauren) VanValkenburg; and many other loving family members and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to The Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research and Information at https://virtualtrials.org/rabish.cfm. Contributions also may be made to Becky Rabish for Max, Van and Leo's Michigan Education Savings Program 529 accounts.