Asa S. Bushnell III

Asa S. Bushnell, III 9/15/1925 – 3/14/2011 A Memorial Service for Asa "Ace" Bushnell, 85, who passed away March 14, 2011 will begin at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, March 26, 2011 at Casas Church, 10801 N. LaCholla Blvd. Ace retired at the age of 80 after 23 years as community relations manager for the Pima County Sheriff's Department. He assisted the Sheriff's Auxiliary Volunteers for 21 years. He received many awards for his work in crime prevention and addictions, but the highlight of his life, he said, was his final honor, The Haven's Chrysalis Award, which he shared with former, longtime Compass CEO Joan McNamara, and was presented to him at a luncheon on March 10, 2011. Among the boards that he has served as past president and/or as a member were Gateway Inc. and the Tucson Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence – two agencies that merged in 1997 to form Compass Health Care Inc.; 88-CRIME; the Pima Prevention Partnership, and past chairman of the Compass Foundation. At the 2004 Dynamic Duo Gala, he was a co-winner with Ms. McNamara of the Jorgensen Award for years of work in the recovery field. Ace was a 30-year, seven-month perfect-attendance member as well as a past president (1986-87) of the Rotary Club of Tucson, which gave him its highest accolade, the Orville S. McPherson Award, in 2003. He was a member and past chairman of the Tucson Chapter of the Society of Former FBI Special Agents as well as former Western regional vice president of the society, which presented him with its 2003 Humanitarian Award. The 2004 Founders Award was presented to Ace by the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce for a long record of service in the community. He was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Ace also served as secretary of his Princeton Class of 1947 for 34 years. A former newspaperman who spent four separate stints with the Tucson Citizen in four consecutive decades for a total of more than 20 years, Ace began his career in the Old Pueblo as a reporter in 1948. He eventually became sports editor, assistant managing editor and editorial page editor/columnist. Between tours at the Citizen, he served as a special agent with the FBI (1951-52), managing editor of Town Topics in Princeton, N.J. (1955-59), public relations director for the Attorney General of New Jersey (1959-62), managing editor of the Upland (Calif.) News (1964-65), editor of the Montesano (Wash.) Vidette (1965-68), public relations officer for the New Mexico Sheriffs & Police Association (1968-69), and managing editor of the Palisadian-Post (1969-71) in Pacific Palisades, Calif. He also was a local free-lance writer. Born in Springfield, Ohio, to Asa S. Bushnell II and Thelma Clark Bushnell, he was raised in Princeton and graduated from the Hill prep school in Pottstown, Pa., and from Princeton University. He enlisted in the Marines right out of prep school and served until the end of WWII. He has been married since August 1986 to writer/editor Cheryl "Cheri" Cross-Bushnell. He was preceded in death by his former wife, Betty. Survivors include his wife, Cheri; sister, Barbara Leonard of Scottsdale; daughter, Carolyn Houghtby of Pflugerville, Texas; sons, Larry and Mark, both of Tucson; stepdaughters, Michelle Marsh of Tucson, Peggi Cross of Rochester, N.Y., and Rochelle Jourdan of Kerhonkson, N.Y. and several grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nieces. The family suggests that donations be made in memory of Asa S. Bushnell III to the Pima Prevention Partnership, 88-CRIME, The Haven or Compass Health Care Foundation. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Avalon Chapel.