John Cummins

The WWII fighter/bomber pilot, John R. Cummins, known to most as "Rudy", took his last two flights when airlifted by helicopter from Roswell, New Mexico to University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas twice in five days. He slipped away from us on Saturday night in Lubbock on Nov. 26, 2011. Rudy was born in Negra, New Mexico to Nimmie Hazel Kenmore Cummins and Ernest Lawrence Cummins on February 12, 1922. He grew up in Lake Arthur, New Mexico and loved playing basketball on the Lake Arthur High School basketball team. He followed his two brothers, Ferron and Gurvis, by enlisting in the United States Army Air Corp and received his wings in July 1943 in Selma,Alabama. It is here that he met his wife, Willie Pauline Lavender, an Alabama southern beauty, and married her on Oct. 30, 1943 in Waycross, Georgia. He was transferred overseas as a combat pilot in January 1944 to North Africa, Sicily, Corsica, and Italy. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for saving a fellow crashed pilot, the Air Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Purple Heart. He loved flying and owned two of his own aircraft over the years. He owned several different kinds of businesses and worked in various vocations,mostly in excavation and road construction. Roswell has always been his primary home although work had the family living for awhile in Gallup, Las Vegas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a member of First United Methodist Church, the Elks Lodge, the Lions Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled Veterans, the American Legion, and other organizations. Rudy is survived by his wife, Willie L. Cummins, of Roswell, New Mexico,his daughter, Mettie P. Lavender Cummins, of Bakersfield, California; his son, Ernest Terrance "Terry" Cummins and wife, Corby Howe Cummins, of Roswell, New Mexico; and Grand-daughter, Shawn Price and husband, Jason Price and great-grandson, Zachary Price of San Antonio, Texas. He is also survived by his brother, Gurvis L."Larry" Cummins and wife, June, of Darby, Montana; sister, Dorothy Bostick and husband, Cecil A. Bostick of San Antonio, Texas; sister-in-law, Lora Mae Cummins of San Antonio,Texas He is also survived by one Uncle, Darrell Kenmore and wife Nell of Lubbock, Texas and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. Rudy was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Ferron E. Cummins;his sons, Ernest Lawrence "Little Larry" Cummins, an infant; and PFC John R.Cummins, Jr. (Rudy Jr.), a US Army parachute jumper with the 101st Airborne, First Air Cavalry Division who lost his life at nineteen years old in the Vietnam conflict. The family invites you to join them in a celebration of Rudy's life at Anderson-Bethany Funeral Home and Crematory at 2609 S. Main Street on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 2:OO pm with Pastor George Ray of Lubbock, TX officiating. Rudy will be interred at South Park Cemetery on South Main Street immediately following the celebration of life. A viewing will be held on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 from l0:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Anderson-Bethany Funeral Home. Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Anderson-Bethany Funeral Home and Crematory. { He has slipped the surly bonds of earth and soars high above the silver clouds while doing tailspins through the sunbeams. . . . . . .smiles down on us and flys away home into the arms of God. }

John Cummins

February 12, 1922 - November 26, 2011