Durango honors Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss as the motorcade escorting his remains to Greenmount Cemetery makes its way down Main Avenue on Saturday morning.Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Blue and yellow ribbons hung from posts, trees and awnings along Main Avenue in Durango fluttered in a light breeze early Saturday as the town honored Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss.
Flags were lowered to half-staff in honor of Kuss, 32, who died June 2 when his plane crashed during a Blue Angels practice exercise for an air show in Tennessee. He was a Durango native, graduating from Durango High School in 2002 and Fort Lewis College in 2006.
Residents lined the Main Avenue motorcade route, from 32nd Street to College Drive and along Camino del Rio and the 9th Street bridge, to pay their respects to Kuss and his family. Then, many headed to The Rim at Fort Lewis College to watch the flyby, which included the Missing Man formation, in which one jet pulled away from formation in honor of Kuss.
The motorcade began about 11 a.m., and took Kuss’ remains to Greenmount Cemetery for a private service, which was capped by a 21-gun salute and a flyover by Marine units that Kuss served with before he joined the Blue Angels flight demonstration team in September 2014.
A reception for family and friends was held Saturday afternoon in front of the Student Union at FLC.
Donations
There are several ways to support the family of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss. They would prefer these options to flowers:
A GoFundMe site was set up to benefit the family of Kuss, a Durango native. The fundraiser was set up by Kuss’ sister-in-law, Nicole Perino. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/jeffkuss.
The International Council of Air Shows established a fund for the family, according to its website. Donors may contribute to the Capt. Jeff Kuss Foundation at www.icasfoundation.org
.
A separate fund was created to help defray expenses related to Kuss’ memorial service in Durango and the public reception Saturday afternoon. Donations to the Jeff Kuss Memorial Fund may be made at Bank of the San Juans/Division of Glacier Bank, 144 E. Eighth St., Durango, CO 81301.
The Jeff Kuss Memorial Scholarship was founded by the family through the Fort Lewis College Foundation
to help veterans earn a college degree. Donations may be made at https://apps.fortlewis.edu/makeagift
.
The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
set up the Captain Jeff ‘Kooch’ Kuss USMC Memorial Scholarship and will accept donations to help the children of fallen Marine or Navy corpsmen pay for post-high school education. Donations may be made to the foundation’s Heroes Tribute Scholarship Program
, which has committed up to $30,000 for Kuss’ children, Calvin, 4, and Sloane, 1, when they reach college age.
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