LAKE PLACID — Word has been received of the passing of Bill Kush on Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2012, from complications of heart and lung disease, at his home in Lake Placid, N.Y. He was 78 years old. He wrote his own obituary.
William Joseph Kush was born on July 25, 1934, in Wichita, Kan. He was the second child of John Lewis and Inace Lorene (Jackson) Kush. A brother, John Walter, died in infancy.
He grew up in Augusta, Kan., a suburb of Wichita. He attended the public schools and played baseball for Charlie Dunn's Augusta Tigers. He did summer work for A.V. Small, Butler County, and the Mobil Refinery. After graduation from high school, he attended Kansas State University, where he studied chemistry, played varsity baseball, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1956.
He was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1957, where he spent two years in the Chemical Corp at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. He was discharged from the Army as a Specialist Third Class in 1959. He returned to Kansas and worked as a chemist for Skelly Oil in El Dorado and Southwest Grease and Oil in Wichita. In 1961, he joined Mobil Corporation's Research and Development Department in Paulsboro, N.J. He worked 30 years for Mobil at Paulsboro and the Technical Service Laboratory in Princeton, N.J. He was a principal in the development of the premium automotive lubricant Mobil 1 and taught oil refining and marketing concepts to Mobil hires and interested professional and civic organizations.
In 1968, he married Rebecca Marlene (Haile) Whelan of Princeton, Ky. They made their home in Woodstown, and later in Harbourton, N.J., and kept a summer place in Lake Placid, N.Y. There were three children in the family; two step-children, Marjorie and David Whelan; and a daughter, Rebecca. His wife and stepson both died in 1987 from separate medical issues.
Bill moved to Lake Placid in 1996. It was here he met Sandra Kane, who became his companion and good friend for the remainder of his life. He was a reporter for the local radio station, he enjoyed the time he spent with his four good fishing buddies, and the goodwill of many persons of excellent character. He was an Emeritus member of the American Chemical Society, Kansas State University President's Club, and Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. He attended Adirondack Community Church in Lake Placid, N.Y.
He is succeeded by his daughter, Rebecca Lorene (Kush) Lowe and her husband Wayne of Harrisburg, Penn.; Dr. Marjorie Whelan and her husband Blair Walter of Perkasie, Penn. and Jay, N.Y.; and four grandchildren, Joshua, Andrew, Calvin, and Samuel Lowe.
From birth to death we live between eternities. In the end there is only God's grace. God bless all who read this.
At Bill's request, gifts in his memory may be made to the Adirondack Community Church, 2583 Main St., Lake Placid, NY 12946
Calling hours will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, with an American Legion Prayer Service at 7:45 p.m. A funeral service will follow at 8 p.m. at the M.B. Clark, Inc. Funeral Home, 2310 Saranac Ave., Lake Placid, NY 12946. Pastor Wayne Lowe will officiate.
Burial with Military Honors will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, at Harbourton Cemetery in Harbourton, N.J. The Blackwell Memorial Home, 21 North Main St., Pennington, NJ 08534 will be in charge of N.J. arrangements.
Relatives and friends are invited to "Light a Candle" and share a story, memory and prayer with Bill's family at www.mbclarkfuneralhome.com
