Janet Kuss, the mother of Capt. Jeff Kuss, who was killed while practicing maneuvers with the Blue Angels at the beginning of June, admires a display in Berndt Hall at Fort Lewis College created to honor the school's alumnus. Kuss earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from FLC in 2006.
Courtesy of Fort Lewis College
John Foley, a former Blue Angel and leadership speaker, will speak at Fort Lewis College on Aug. 3 to benefit the Jeff Kuss Memorial Scholarship.
Courtesy of Glad To Be Here Foundation
The family of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss arrives at the Durango-La Plata County Airport Friday afternoon. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
Police, firefighters, airport personnel and Marines await the arrival of the remains of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss at the Durango-La Plata County Airport on Friday afternoon. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Military personnel await the arrival Friday afternoon of the remains of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss at the Durango-La Plata County Airport. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Airport personnel, police, firefighters and Marines at the Durango-La Plata County Airport to welcome Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss home. Photo by Claudia Laws/Durango Herald
Memorial bracelets were made in honor of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss, a Durango native. Photo by Claudia Laws/Durango Herald
The Kuss family prepares to leave the Durango-La Plata Airport Friday afternoon with the remains of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss, who died in a jet crash last week during a Blue Angels practice flight. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
Military personnel prepare for the arrival Friday afternoon of the remains of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss at the Durango-La Plata County Airport. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
U.S. Marines stand outside a Blue Angels carrier on Friday afternoon to escort the remains of Blue Angels pilot and Capt. Jeff Kuss, a Durango native who died June 2 when he was flying his plane in Tennessee. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard await the arrival of family members of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss and his remains in a C140 Blue Angles plane as it taxies at Durango-La Plata County Airport on Friday afternoon. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard await the arrival of family members of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss and his remains in a C140 Blue Angles plane as it taxies at Durango-La Plata County Airport on Friday afternoon. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard stands behind the plane that carried the remains of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss from Pensacola, Florida, home to Durango on Friday. Photo by Claudia Laws/Durango Herald
A Blue Angels transport plane arrives with Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss’ remains on Friday afternoon at Durango-La Plata County Airport. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A Blue Angels transport plane arrives with Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss’ remains on Friday afternoon at Durango-La Plata County Airport. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
An escort was provided for family members of the late Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss as they leave the Durango-La Plata County Airport on Friday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A Blue Angels transport plane carrying family members of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss and his remains arrives at the Durango-La Plata County Airport on Friday afternoon. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Christina Kuss, the widow of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss, and their children Calvin, 4, and Sloane, 1, thank the Blue Angels crew that flew her husband’s remains and family members to the Durango-La Plata County Airport on Friday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Christina Kuss, the widow of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss, and their children Calvin, 4, and Sloane, 1, thank the Blue Angels crew that flew her husband’s remains and family members to the Durango-La Plata County Airport on Friday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Family members of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss carry his ashes out of the plane on Friday afternoon at Durango-La Plata County Airport. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Family members of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss carry his ashes out of the plane on Friday afternoon at Durango-La Plata County Airport. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Family members of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss carry his ashes out of the plane on Friday afternoon at Durango-La Plata County Airport. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Almost two months after Capt. Jeff Kuss’ death while practicing maneuvers with the famed Blue Angels, his life continues to be honored.
The Durango-born Marine pilot died June 2 near an airport outside Nashville, Tennessee. Thousands of Southwest Colorado residents turned out to line the motorcade route when his family – wife, Christina Ferrarese Kuss; children, Calvin and Sloan; parents, Michael and Janet Kuss; and brother, Eric Kuss – brought his remains home to Durango for burial.
The Kuss family founded the Jeff Kuss Memorial Scholarship at his alma mater, Fort Lewis College, shortly after their son’s death. On Aug. 3, former Blue Angel John Foley will speak at the college to raise funds for the scholarship, which will benefit veterans returning to school to transition into civilian life.
“In one of the last interviews Jeff gave before he died,” Foley said, “he spoke about the sense of gratitude that is core to all Blue Angels. That’s one of the things I’ll talk about, how profoundly grateful we all are to have the opportunity to have an impact on people and have a purpose, a purpose larger than self.”
Foley, a motivational speaker and business leadership trainer, said his talk will include behind-the-scenes footage of the Blue Angels, a look at a day in the life of a Blue Angel and lots of videos and storytelling.
“Being grateful every single moment, the precision and teamwork, being an ambassador of goodwill and having a purpose in life are all things that can transfer from the Blue Angels into everybody’s lives,” Foley said.
FLC is joining with the Durango and Farmington chambers of commerce, La Plata Economic Development Alliance and Four Corners Economic Development to bring Foley to Durango, so all of the ticket proceeds will go to the scholarship.
Remembering Kuss
Because most of the college’s students were not in session when Kuss died, the Alumni Office decided to create a display to share Kuss’ life with students who return at the end of August. On the wall in Berndt Hall, designer JC Peteet included front pages from The Durango Herald and memorabilia from Kuss’ time at the Fort.
And not one, but two congressmen have read tributes to Kuss into the Congressional Record.
The first reading came one week after the crash and was submitted by Rep. John Katko, R-New York, who represents the congressional district near Syracuse, where the Blue Angels were expected to close the Syracuse Hancock International Airport Airshow that week.
“While the Syracuse Air Show will go on without the Blue Angels this weekend, our community is deeply saddened by the loss of this fallen pilot,” Katko said, “and the show will celebrate and pay tribute to his life. As Capt. Kuss’ family and the Blue Angels team grieve this tremendous loss, this weekend, central New York will remember and honor his life and service to our great nation.”
Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, who represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, made his tribute June 15.
“The entire Durango community is incredibly proud of Capt. Kuss for his service to our nation and what he was able to achieve,” Tipton said. “When he was brought home to rest in Durango, citizens lined the streets to pay their respects to this fallen hero, a testament to Capt. Kuss’ service, deep ties to the community and a life well-lived.”
Former Blue Angel John Foley will speak at a Business Leadership Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 3 in the Student Union Ballroom at Fort Lewis College. Tickets are $50 through July 31 and $60 thereafter, and are available at www.durangoconcerts.com. All ticket proceeds will go to the Jeff Kuss Memorial Scholarship at FLC.
Go online and visit https://apps.fortlewis.edu/makeagift to donate directly to the scholarship.
Visit www.johnfoleyinc.com to learn more about the speaker.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to our policies
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
