He changed his name when he reached adulthood, stating that his mothero riginally intended to name him after his father but his Van Gundygrand parents wanted him to carry the name of their son, Elmer, andthey prev ailed. He signed the Powell family reunion roster in 1940as RE Van Gu ndy, Jr. During his adolescence he was known as "Henry."
Residences & events:
Kansas City, MO. Upon high school graduation he worked as a laborerwi th a contracting company, earning $0.25/hour while computing dailychar ges by the company.
He quit to begin work as an insurance adjuster for an underwriter'sadj ustment company and was transferred to Chicago. However, he didnot wa nt to live in Chicago so he switched companies which assignedhim to th e KS, NE, and IA area.
1936 Cedar Rapids, IA, where his office was eventually located. Whilet here he took flying lessons which would later facilitate hisbecoming a p ilot in the service of his county.
1940 Topeka, KS, where he was transferred, still as an insuranceadjus ter.
3/2/1943 Grand Isle, LA. Bud was called to active duty as a pilotfor s ubmarine patrol in coastal waters. Following this stint ofduty, he wa s given the choice of returning home or reenlisting in theregular Air F orce, he chose the latter.
2/1944 He was inducted into the Air Force, rising to Lt. Col, therank h e held until retirement on 12/17/1976.
Jefferson City, MO, was the office to which the insurance adjustingcom pany reassigned him following the war.
1947 St Cloud, MN. He was again transferred and during this timealso b egan to dabble in other occupations as well, such as owning aservice s tation, being a partner in a construcion company, owningpart interest i n a salvage company, and owner of several properties.He eventually op ened his own adjusting company which he sold within afew
years but still continued to work as an adjuster, traveling throughoutt he country to disaster areas.
1967 Winter Haven, FL. He bought the Dairy Queen franchise and,
among the family, operated several stores. At age 75 he decided to
retire and disposed of any interests which involved work.
He now passes the time by fishing, travelling and visiting with
friends.
Lt. Col. Robert Elmer (RE, Bob, "Bud", "Bootsie") Van Gundy (Givenname E lmer Henry) of Lake Wales, FL, age 96 exactly, passed away fromheart f ailure on Friday, December 17, 2010, with family comfortinghim to the e nd. His wife of 72 years, Gladys, age 93, passed 1 yearago.
Born in Sullivan, IL, on December 17, 1914, Lt. Col. Van Gundy servedo ur country during WWII as an active duty pilot in many missions suchas s ubmarine patrol as well as personal pilot for General CurtisLeMay. Wh en given the opportunity to return home, he reenlisted;retiring from t he Air Force in 1976 with 37 years of service. Hisprofessional life c onsisted primarily in the business of casualtyinsurance adjusting, but a lso included an entrepreneurial flair withhis ownership of a service s tation, construction and salvage company,and most recently he owned th e Winter Haven and Lakeland Dairy Queenfranchises.
Recent years have found him cruising the Caribbean, fishing in Alaska,a ttending Illinois family reunions, working in his wood shop makingtoy b oxes for great grand kids and writing his memoirs that will bepublishe d for family and friends in the future.
He and Gladys moved to central Florida from St. Cloud, MN, 46 yearsago . While with us, Lt. Col RE Van Gundy also officially reached thelofty t itle of Great Great Grandfather; although everyone that calledhim grea t grandfather, grandfather, father, uncle, brother and son,knew he was " Great Great" all along. When Lt. Col. Van Gundy met astranger, he emb raced them instantly as family. He was frugal butgenerous, stern but l oving, opinionated but forgiving, and anall-around hero and role model t o those that knew him.
Lt. Col. Van Gundy is survived by siblings Jack, J.D., Doris andMaxine o f Matoon, Illinois; son Jerry Van Gundy and wife Gail,Cumming, GA; dau ghter Mitzi Rauth and husband Ken, Lake Wales, FL; 6grandchildren; 15 g reat grandchildren; 1 great great grandchild.
At his request, he was cremated and his ashes will be interred besideG ladys' during a service sometime in early Spring at BushnellMilitary C emetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to HonorFli ght Network, a non-profit close to Lt. Col. Van Gundy’s heart,created t o "honor America's veterans for all their sacrifices".Honor Flight ga ve Lt. Col. Van Gundy an amazing trip to DC lastSpring to visit the WW II Memorial: www.honorflight.org. Donations toHabitat for Humanity No rth Central Georgia are also an option:www.habitat-ncg.org.
