Richard Bud Edmund Nitsche

by Charles D. Williams

Sailors pray,

For fair winds and a following sea

The smell of salt in the air,

The feel of their skin as it's touched by the spray

An albatross soaring above,

Dolphins in the ship's wake at play

To witness a work of art that only God can create,

The sunset at the end of day

At night a million stars in the sky,

Safe anchorage in an islands lee

When the time comes to die as for all it must,

To awake in Sailors Heaven where nothing ever rusts

And always there would be,

Fair winds and a following sea

Godspeed Dad

Richard Edmund Nitsche ("Bud" to friends and family), a long-time resident of Lake Bluff, IL, passed away peacefully on March 30, 2010 in Collierville, Tennessee. He was 87 years old.

Bud was born on September 12, 1922 in Waukegan, Illinois, the son of Edmund and Phyllis Nitsche. He attended Waukegan Township High School. Upon graduation, he enlisted in the Merchant Marines. He made three crossings of the Atlantic on Liberty ships supplying munitions and supplies to England. He then chose to enlist in the Navy. After the outbreak of World War II, he served on the Butler-class destroyer USS Abercrombie. His ship saw action off Okinawa and the Philippines, running escort picket lines and withstanding 16 kamikaze attacks.

After the war, he returned to Waukegan attending college night classes after work. In 1946, he met Ruth Christiansen at the Waukegan Yacht Club. They were married on September 18, 1948. He attended Marquette University in Milwaukee on the GI Bill, graduating with a degree in Accounting and Finance in 1950. Through the late 1950's and early 1960's, he worked for subsidiaries of Aetna Bearing Company in finance, which took him and his growing family to Parkersburg, West Virginia, then on to Houston, Texas. They returned to Chicagoland, settling in Lake Bluff in 1964 when Bud accepted a promotion to Vice President in charge of Finance with Aetna Bearing Company. He left Aetna and bought the Waukegan Yellow Cab Company in 1973, down the street from his parents' old house. He retired after running the fleet and an automotive body shop for ten years. After 44 years in Lake Bluff, Bud, Ruth and their oldest son Richard relocated to Collierville, Tennessee in 2008 to be near their daughter Susan and her family.

Bud's greatest passion throughout his life was sailing. Small or large craft, he was in his true element on the water, driving the wind hard. As a teenager, Bud sailed as an early member of the Waukegan Yacht Club. He raced Sunfish sailboats with the Lake Bluff Yacht Club, usually trouncing the competition. He won and placed high in numerous Sunfish regattas, including the Midwest and Nationals through the 1960's and 1970's. He crewed on yachts competing in the Chicago to Mackinac Race twelve times, finishing second in 1968.

His sister Phyllis Jean preceded Bud in death. He is survived by Ruth Nitsche, his bride of 61 years, their children Richard "Rock" Nitsche, Peter Nitsche and wife Judith, Christopher Nitsche and wife Melanie, Susan (Nitsche) Szaroletta and husband James, grandchildren Jacqueline, Kelsey, Drew and Sophia and a great granddaughter Makayla. A private memorial will be held at the Waukegan Yacht Club on June 27th.