Great Sage of the Sea
Posts: 618
Location: Issaquah WA, USA | Subject: CAPT Prentice "Cush" Cushing on Eternal Patrol
Prentice Cushing Jt, CAPT, USN, Ret., 83, died September 29, 2007 at Virginia Beach Hospital from the results of a fall at his home late on Wednesday night, having decided to check his e-mail just one more time.
In the hospital he was conscious and delivering his signature lousy jokes to the nurses, sometimes having to stop for 20 or more seconds to draw a deep breath to deliver the punch line. The fall had irreparably paralyzed him from the neck down.
At first he immediately fought back and reckoned on continuing in some way in the assisted living quarters at Atlantic Shores, where he made his retirement home. When it was clear that he could not live without a ventilator and therefore would not be able to speak, that he would be perpetually "looking up at the ceiling" and that use of his hands and legs had become impossible, he made the decision to pull all life support systems. He did not hesitate.
At his end, Cush was surrounded by children and grandchildren, close friends and shipmates who spoke to him because he could still hear, near to the final minutes when the monitors all started blinking red.
In typical Cush fashion he had a folder titled "Operation Hope Not" that contained every scrap of information needed on his passing, including an up-to-date, detailed obituary with only the date of death left blank.
It is September 29th, the day on which Horatio Nelson was born and Cush left us.
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On behalf of my father, Prentice Cushing, Jr., I want to thank all of you for your prayers, thoughts, and support over the last few days. As many of you know, my dad fell on Wednesday night and the unfortunate accident took his life around 1115 this morning.
I want everyone to know that my dad was very aware right up until the very end and made his own decisions. He was telling me jokes until late last night.
I know there are many of you that will feel his loss and we will have a memorial service to celebrate his life. I will make sure that everyone knows the details as soon as I have time to arrange things.
Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all your prayers, love and support during this time and for being so great to my dad.
Jo Higgins – Cush’s daughter
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Cush was one of the founding members of the USSVI Hampton Roads Base, a Holland Club member and was a long serving Secretary and Treasurer of that chapter.
Thank you for your splendid service. Sail on home, shipmate. We've got the watch.
Edited by PatH 2007-09-30 8:51 AM
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CAPT Prentice "Cush" Cushing on Eternal Patrol
