Obituary of Gerald F. VanDusen

Gerald F. "Van" Van Dusen passed away peacefully on April 30, 2003. He was born on July 3, 1922 in Johnson City, N.Y. Dad always insisted the "only the good die young", but he was the exception. He was predeceased by his parents, Ralph E. and Mary C. (Murphy) Van Dusen; three brothers, Paul, Ralph and Richard Van Dusen; and two sisters, Peg Donnelly and Marion Stevens; also his son, Daniel, in 1993. He is survived by five daughters and one son, Diane Janulis Vreeland and Rusty Vreeland, Atlanta, Ga., Mary Ellen and Lloyd Zander, Detroit, Mich., Joan and Tom Brainard, West Palm Beach, Fla., Nancy Van Dusen Rogers and Jerry Rogers, Colorado Springs, Colo., Anne Frances and Paul Norris, Rochester, David M. Van Dusen, Chesapeake, Va.; 13 grandchildren, who loved him dearly; two great-grandchildren; and several nieces, nephews and cousins; his former wife, Virginia M. Van Dusen, Kirkwood. Gerald was a 1940 graduate of Johnson City High School. He was a WWII veteran who served proudly in the US Navy from 1940 to 1948 in the Pacific Campaign. Gerald received an Air Medal and two Gold Stars along with the Distinguished Flying Cross for meritorious achievement as a radioman/gunner in a scout bomber known as the "Dauntless" Douglas. After the war he worked for the city of Binghamton as an Assistant Supt. in the Signal Bureau until his retirement. Dad will be remembered by his family and friends for his generosity, keen dry wit and blue eyes. We will miss him always and will never forget Gerald F. Van Dusen. Funeral services will be held at the J.A. McCormack Sons Funeral Home, 141 Main St., Binghamton, Monday, at 9 a.m., and at 9:30 a.m. at St. Paul's Church, Binghamton, where a Funeral Mass will be offered. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Johnson City. The family will receive friends at the McCormack Funeral Home, Sunday, from 2 to 4 p.m.