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In Memoriam

April 16, 1943 - October 2, 2024

Captain Sol Pusey, 81, passed on October 2nd in Sandpoint, ID.  His best friend, and fellow Tiger Paul Nowaske (in photo below), was by his side to the very end and reports that he flew west in complete peace.

Sol, 81, was hired by Tigers on March 1, 1966 and was a LAX B747 Captain at the time of the merger in 1989.  He leaves behind his son, David and granddaughter, Lily.

Condolences can be sent to:

David Pusey
3406 W. Government Way, Apt 6
Seattle, WA 98199

Rest In Peace, Sol.

The following was sent to us by Senior Flight Attendant, Robin Burkey Pestarino

I met Sol while flying a Disney on Ice charter to Honolulu.  It was a mixed configuration with the “stars” in the aft and their stage props forward.  There was a narrow pathway to the cockpit and we would take some leftovers from the first class service to share with the pilots.

Sol was an FO at the time and very funny.  We became friends and remained so until his death.  I met his family and he met mine.

 He always seemed to have a small dog with him that went everywhere, even to the hospital where Sol volunteered for years.  He used to console patients while they petted his dog, then they would be at ease with the approaching surgery or be more relaxed with the one they just had.

Sol was a good pilot and was an NTSB inspector for a while.  It was interesting to hear about the incidents after the findings were released.

His son, David, was the most important person in his life.  When his granddaughter, Lily was born, Sol’s life was complete.  There wasn’t much Sol wouldn’t do for his family.  He adored his older sister and her family and was very proud of her accomplishments as a financial investor.

He loved flying and laughed that after retirement, he thought he’d get a private license until he flew a fixed-winged, fixed-gear small aircraft and over-flew it to the point he didn’t want to do it again!  He’d go to the local airport to hanger fly but didn’t actually fly much after that.

It was fun to see him occasionally at our reunions and catch up.  He told me he was not popular with some FTL pilots as he was in favor of the FedEx merger and said so. For him, it was an economic stability decision and he wanted to fly until 60 years old without a bunch of hassle changing airlines several times.  

I will miss Sol.  God speed, my friend.

Robin Burkey Pestarino
Senior Flight Attendant
1967-1979

Anyone else wishing to contribute to this page with archived pictures or testimonials is encouraged to contact us at email@flyingtigerline.org