Marine Corps Capt. Jeff Kuss left behind a wife and two young children — as well as friends and family mourning his loss — when the Blue Angels pilot died in a crash in Tennessee on Thursday.
, graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2006 with a degree in economics, but he had plans long before then to become a pilot.
Nicole Ferrarese Perino, Kuss’ sister-in-law, wrote online on a that Kuss learned to fly before he could drive.
One of his college professors also remembered learning of his goals.“I remember when Jeff came to me and told me that it was his dream to fly for the Marines. I gaped at him: ‘Why didn’t you go to one of the academies,’ ” economics professor Stephanie Owings-Edwards said. “I was afraid he had made a terrible mistake going to Fort Lewis College.”
But Kuss was determined and was accepted into flight school.
“I remember driving by Jeff on winter mornings, his face flushed, jogging along Goeglein Gulch,” Owings-Edwards said. “Absolutely no one else was out. But he knew that the physical training regime for the Marines would be demanding and he was going to be prepared. He was a case study in how far determination and dedication could take someone.”
His parents, Michael and Janet Kuss told Denver7 reporters that Kuss was a leader and loved to interact with the public at his events.
“He would be the last one to leave if there were kids in line,” Janet Kuss was quoted as saying.
Earlier this year, Kuss did a flyover at the Super Bowl in California. Broncos general manager John Elway sent out prayers to Kuss’ family , saying he was honored to have had a chance to meet Kuss.
Blue Angels flight leader Cmdr. Ryan Bernacchi spoke to the news media Friday, calling Kuss “an incredible husband, father, son, Marine and teammate.”
“He embodied and inspired in all of us an incredible spirit of compassion, courage and resiliency,” Bernacchi said.
Owings-Edwards also spoke of being inspired.
“The odds that the freshman who sat in my class would make it into the Blue Angels were dazzlingly small,” she said. “For me, his story reaffirmed my faith in the American Dream.”