Charles "Bud" Cushing Jr. slipped the surly bonds of earth and peacefully flew west Oct. 17, 2024, surrounded by family.
He was born in 1930 in Oak Park to Charles Walter Cushing and Lois Bolton Cushing. The family moved to Hinsdale, where Bud graduated from Hinsdale High School.
Bud attended the University of New Mexico on a Naval ROTC scholarship and was a proud member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. While at UNM, he met and married the love of his life, Patsy Morrow of Raton, N.M. He took an airplane ride, and it changed his destiny.
Bud pursued aviation with a fervor few have ever seen. He went from student, to flight instructor, to crop duster, to an airline pilot with TWA. While at TWA Bud started in a DC3 and finished in a B747 with six different airplanes in between. After 38 years, Bud retired the No. 1 pilot at TWA.
In 1988, Bud started another chapter in his legacy that he was most proud of all. He bought a small grass strip amid farmland and built Cushing Field near Newark. From this humble beginning he personally mentored hundreds of aspiring pilots from all over the world. Many went on to careers in aviation, including major airline pilots, not the least of which were his children - Tres, Mindy and Kim - who went on to be captains at American United, and FedEx airlines. Not to be satisfied, Bud mentored all eight of his grandchildren to fly, with three going on to major airlines and still more to come.
Bud was preceded in death by his wife, Patsy.
He is survived by his son, Charles (Maureen) Walter Cushing III; his daughters, Melinda (Douglas) Engberg and Kimberley (Troy) McDonald; and his grandchildren, Clare, Charles (Skyleigh) W. IV, Catherine Cushing, Erik, Alex (Viridiana), Paige Engberg, Morrow and Teagan McDonald.
A celebration of life is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at Cushing Field, 4076 Illinois Route 71, Sheridan.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the EAA Young Eagles Program.
Brian Powell Funeral Directors of Hinsdale handled the arrangements.
