Last year I wrote a piece about Joe, and how he had influenced my life - in good part by giving me a verbal boot in the ass on numerous occasions when I was slacking. And I was slacking. And his boot was pretty gentle, actually, all things considered. He knew my father had died and provided some of that stuff that dads do - like tell their sons maybe trying a little harder is not such a bad idea.
Joe Rushin in the early 1960s
I knew him mostly as coach of the track team, arguably the only sport at which I had much success in high school. He wanted me to do everything and once insisted that I try the pole vault. He neglected to check out my biceps which were not up to the task of lifting my scrawny body over anything that high. So then he decided I was a hurdler. That didn't work that well either, but eventually he realized I could run like hell - for a short distance - and so I did the 100-yard dash and the 220 for four years.
I still have the ribbons I won.
Joe always brought his young son Randy to practices - he was just a little kid when we were in high school - and looking back, it was a measure of how good a dad Joe was.
After his first wife died, he married SWCS librarian, Beverly Brownrigg, who I note from his obituary had been with him every day since.
Miss Brownrigg, later Mrs. Rushin
I wrote to Joe last year at his Port Saint Lucie address but never heard back. I'll bet though, that he remembered me, he was that kind of guy.
In our yearbook, there is a picture of Vern Ahlgren and Mark Swanson racing, with Vern's legs churning out yards against Mark's determination. I was standing nearby the day that photo was taken and can still hear Joe Rushin's voice urging both of them to beat the other, just as I can hear him hollering at me all the way across the football field, enunciating each syllable of my name: Fitz-Ger-AAAAALLLLLLLDDDD faster!
Racing to the finish - for Joe Rushin
Joseph Eugene Rushin
2/27/2008 - Joseph Eugene Rushin, 85, formerly of Lakewood, N.Y., died in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, where he has resided since 1982. He was born August 18, 1922, in Nanticoke, Pa., the son of Andrew and Francis Maksus Rushin.
A veteran of World War II, he served as an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the Pacific Theater and was awarded the American Theater Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Medal with three stars, and the Philippine Liberation Medal with two stars.
He attended the East Stroudsburg Teachers College in East Stroudsburg, Pa., and received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his master of science degree from Rutgers University. He retired in 1982 as principal of Southwestern Central High School, after a 36-year career in education. He was a member of Saint Lucie Catholic Church in Port Saint Lucie, and was an avid wood carver.
Surviving are his wife of 39 years, Beverly Rushin; two daughters: Christine Hessler of Bethel Park, Pa.; Carol Rushin of Golden, Colo.; a son, Randall Rushin of East Hampton, Conn.; and six grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his first wife and the mother of his children, Lillian Rushin in 1967.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the Saint Lucie Catholic Church.
A graveside service will be held at Sunset Hill Cemetery at a time to be announced by the Lind Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to Chautauqua Region Community Foundation c/o Southwestern School Education Foundation, PO Box 103, Lakewood, NY 14750.
No comments:
Post a Comment