Rash's Surname Index
Notes for William Shrewsbury PUSEY
URBANA – William Shrewsbury Pusey passed away at 2:12 a.m. Friday, Dec. 10, 2010, at the Champaign County Nursing Home in Urbana. He was a very young 91.
Bill was born November 28, 1919, on a farm near Monticello, Ark., to William Carlock Pusey and Amelia Florence Shrewsbury Pusey. An infant sister and sister, Mary Louise Pusey Brown, preceded him in death. His brother, Walter Wesley Pusey (Martha) of Hendersonville, N.C., survives. He was raised in the Episcopal Church.
He met and married Leota Mae Cunningham in Fort Smith, Ark. She passed away on August 16, 1984. He had two daughters, Joan (Toni) Antoinette Pusey Beaumont and Sheila Anne Pusey Busboom. Toni passed away on June 12, 2008.
He is survived by Sheila and her husband, Leslie Busboom, of Royal; his three grandsons: Jason (Christine) of Castle Rock, Colo.; Joel (Kimberly) of Kenosha, Wis.; and Cory (fiancee Bobbi Duval) of Urbana; his great-grandchildren, Blake and Grant (Jason) and Leah (Joel); his nieces and nephews; and a special friend, Jeanne McCall of Olympia Fields.
Bill graduated from the University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts in 1941 with a B.F.A. degree and a commission of Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Field Artillery horse-drawn unit. He was Art Editor of the University yearbook "The Illio," President of the Society of Illustrators, and Secretary-Treasurer of the "Caisson Club," the largest military society on campus at that time.
First Lt. Pusey served five years of active duty with the 81st Field Artillery, Battery C, a regular army unit. In World War II, he served on both the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and the European-Africa Theater. He was Executive Officer of a 155-man firing battery. He received six battle stars and seven medals including the Air Medal for directing artillery fire from his aircraft. He survived one plane crash and numerous attacks by enemy aircraft and ground fire. He was wounded in action, but continued on with his unit.
On October 13, 1944, the 81st Field Artillery landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy. From there they advanced over 900 miles of battleground, fighting through France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. After that grueling march, the 81st joined Gen. George Patton. They marched over 75 miles on snow-swept, icy mountain roads from Luxembourg to Bastogne, where the Battle of the Bulge began.
Upon his return to civilian life, Bill joined the faculty of the University of Illinois. First, he was on the art department teaching staff, and then he was on the staff of the Small Homes Council, which was internationally recognized for building research. While on the Small Homes Council, Bill developed principles of design and color that are universally used throughout the design and construction industries.
Bill wrote more than 100 magazine and newspaper articles and co-authored a textbook used in architectural schools here and abroad. He was listed in "Graphics International Design," a reference published in Zurich, Switzerland. He was the featured speaker at three National Association of Home Builders conventions and a facility member of the Merchandising Short Courses in Washington, D.C, and was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the National Environmental Design Committee. He participated in House and Home Round Tables in New York City, and won their Award of Merit. He also won the National Neighborhood Design Award.
In 1953 Bill left the University of Illinois to establish Pusey Studios. He had building projects in 43 states and more than 60,000 houses and 20,000 apartments were built from his plans.
Bill's drawings and oil paintings were exhibited in galleries in Chicago and London and he had a one-man show at the Decatur Art Institute in Illinois.
In addition to his military service in Alaska, the Aleutians, the Pribilof Islands, and the European countries, Bill traveled to India, where he rode elephants and photographed wild tigers. He went on a photographic safari in Africa, taking pictures of the wildlife.
He loved skiing, white-water rafting and especially horseback riding. He was a boxer, wrestler, fencer and rifle marksman. He was rated Expert in rifle, pistol and military equitation. He competed in the National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, for three years, and was awarded an instructor's certificate by the U.S. Army at the age of 16 -- the youngest on record at that time.
Bill was a Second-Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and in 2000, at age 81, went to South Korea to participate in competitions.
Thank you to the staff of Perkins in Urbana for the warm welcome every Wednesday at lunch time. (Amy, those hugs were so special to him.) Thank you to the staff of the Champaign County Nursing Home for taking excellent care of him. (He knew how hard all of you worked to take proper care of all the residents.)
A private celebration of his life was held. Memorials may be made to the Champaign County Nursing Home, 500 S. Art Bartell Road, Urbana, IL 61802-2836.
Your watch is over, Lieutenant. We'll take it from here.
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