Michael Rushanski Jr.

Rushanski, Michael, Jr.

Endicott: Michael Rushanski, Jr., 77, an Endicott resident for over 50 years, passed away peacefully on February 28, 2014 at Wilson Regional Medical Center with his family by his bedside. He was born December 1, 1936 to Michael and Elizabeth Zunko Rushanski. He is also predeceased by his daughter, Tanya Rushanski; sister, Carol Peake Lusht; in-laws, Joseph and Mary Wojenski; special cousins, Charles Kofira, Jr. and George Mergen. Mike was the quintessential devoted, gentle, and loving family man who will be terribly missed by the love of his life since he first met her in 1955, Patricia Rushanski; two sons, Paul Rushanski and Albert Holczman, Michael Rushanski and Charity Muzuruk; daughter, Christina Marie and Carlton Snapp; three cherished grandsons, Michael Rushanski, Carlton and Andrew Snapp; Patti's aunt, Kay DeLorenzo and family, one nephew, three nieces, and countless cousins, in-laws, and good friends. Mike grew up on Emma St. in Binghamton and then Virginia Ave. in Johnson City. Since the age of five, he went to work with his father every weekend and school vacation, becoming highly skilled at tile and carpet installation, construction and finish carpentry, plumbing and heating, and masonry. He and his father built wooden speedboats together and loved racing them on Cayuga Lake. In 1957, the two of them built a new home on Spruce St. in Johnson City, completely by hand, even cutting down their own trees to make lumber. He subsequently passed on this knowledge to his own two sons and, in 1976, they doubled the size of the family home in West Corners. He graduated from Johnson City High School in January 1955 and then went on to earn the degree of Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY in 1959. After graduation, Mike joined the USMC Reserves until 1965. His first engineering jobs were at Link Aviation and then GE Aerospace in Westover, when he married Patti on November 3, 1961. In 1964, he was hired by IBM Federal Systems Division in Owego, working on dozens of Cold War government defense contracts including design of the F-15 Fighter Plane, Wild Weasel Scout Plane, both B-1 and B-2 Stealth Bombers, and the Harpoon Tomahawk Missile until his early retirement in 1986. Mike was an accomplished accordionist and loved playing ethnic, jazz, and classical pieces. He was in Binghamton's Silver Crown Orchestra in the 1960s and then, in the 1980s, formed a combo along with Patti and drummer, Dan Needham, Jr., called "Music You Like With Pat and Mike." A meticulous craftsman, he loved his many hobbies, which included woodworking, taking 8mm home movies and thousands of family slides with his Nikon-F, developing his own black and white photography in the basement dark room, and building and flying radio-controlled model airplanes. In later years, he became an avid golfer, computer geek, and gardener, filling the yard with hundreds of flowers every summer. However, nothing surpassed the joy he got from his wife and children, treating them to a wonderful fairy tale life of security and happiness. Besides summer vacations, especially to the beach, every Christmas season, he would take two weeks of vacation just to be home with all of us to "keep warm in our snuggly house" so he could play with our toys, eat Mom's good cooking, and entertain friends in the huge family room he built. If you were Mike's friend, you had a friend for life. He was truly one in a million. Our family would like to acknowledge M. Bashar Yousuf, MD and his entire cardiac care team of specialists and nurses for the highly skilled and compassionate care given to Mike during his final days. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at the Leon Pucedo Funeral Home, Inc., 1905 Watson Blvd., Endicott, followed by a Funeral Mass officiated by Rev. Michael Galuppi at 12 noon at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, 701 W. Main St., Endicott. The family will receive friends at the Pucedo Funeral Home on Monday from 4-7 p.m. Burial will be in the family plot in upper Calvary Cemetery, Johnson City. Memorial donations may be made to Southern Tier AIDS Program, 22 Riverside Dr., Binghamton, NY 13905 (online at www.stapinc.org), the church, or local charity of one's choice.