Noel Gusler, Jr.

Noel "Gus" Gusler Jr. A long, full, joyous and heroic American life ended on Friday the 13th day of February 2015. Noel "Gus" Gusler Jr. of Burlington died Friday at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham after a brief illness. He was 89. His large and adoring family was with him. Gus was a member of the "Greatest Generation," and he did his part, and then some, to make it so. A child of the Great Depression, he quit school while barely in what now would be called the middle grades, to go to work to help support his family. It was not uncommon in that time for the oldest children in a family to do so, and Gus never complained. He saw it as his duty, a theme that would run throughout his life. In the course of that life, Gus would work in cotton mills near his Burlington home, cleaning looms. He would sell Chevrolets, vacuum cleaners, Charles Chips and commercial sign supplies. He did what he had to do first to support his brothers and sister and help his parents, and later to make a good life in Burlington for his own family. His example, of hard work without complaint, of providing a home and the necessities and education for his children, was followed by those children, and all his life, they told their father how much they appreciated what he did for them. Duty. Yes, that theme that Gus had learned as a youngster was with him when he joined the U.S. Army and began assignment as a combat infantryman in the European-African-Middle Eastern campaigns during World War II. By the time he came home to North Carolina after his service, he was a certifiable hero, who had earned the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts and the French Croix d Guerre Francaise Avec Etoile. In 2010, Gus received a decree signed by the president of France naming him "Chevalier" of the French Legion of Honor, which was created by Napoleon in 1802. Until his later years, Gus rarely spoke of his war experiences. Like the 18 hours he lay face down in the mud under a bridge as German troops walked around making sure all the American solders were dead. Or when he jumped onto a tank and used it's 50 caliber machine gun to hold off a German surprise attack on his unit resulting in him being awarded the Silver Star. He was never comfortable with his children showing his medals to their friends. He did his part. He did his duty. That was the way he saw it. Back home, life went on and Gus's goal was to make it a good life for his family. He was gone a few days every week selling sign supplies, but when he got home, he invested all his waking hours in making happy memories with his wife and children. Their thoughts of those days are fond. They recalled that all the children in their neighborhood wanted to come to their house because Gus made such an effort to have fun with them. They remember when he took them to a newly paved Charlotte Motor Speedway and talked someone into letting him drive them around the track in a Chevrolet station wagon. They remembered the games he played with them, the jokes, the magic tricks and the multitude of good times that left them with such happy thoughts of their upbringing. Gus would today be called a "Renaissance Man," but he just thought of himself as someone who enjoyed life and wanted others to enjoy it, too. In 1955, for example, he won a dance contest in Miami doing something he created called "the Red Springs Shuffle." In 1948, at age 23, he was the only member of the Textile Workers Union of America in North Carolina. He raced in some of the first NASCAR races on the legendary track at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem and was himself a good enough drag racer to be inducted into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame. Decades later, he'd get in his second hall: the Players Retreat Hall of Fame in Raleigh, created by his oldest son Richard, the owner of that venerable Capital City restaurant and bar. Thirty-five years after the war, Gus went back to Europe, to the sites of some of his war years. In one French village, he sought out a young boy he had befriended during those war years. When he knocked on the door to which he and his wife, Margaret, were directed, that young boy, now a man answered, threw up his arms and shouted, "Gus!" Many descriptions can be offered of a life so long. Gus lived every moment of his 89 years. He "hoed to the end of the row." He left few opportunities for adventures unexplored. And he gave all his love to his family and his friends and certainly his country, and that love was returned. Gus was happily joined on his journey by the love of his life, Margaret Elgin Gusler, whom he married in 1948. They would be married until her death in 1992. His survivors include: his children, Richard Noel "Gus" Gusler Doris of Raleigh; David Glenn "Gus" Gusler Terry of Burlington; and Linda Gusler Partenheimer Steve of Apex. There are three grandchildren: Jennifer Lee Partenheimer and Stephanie Noel Partenheimer, both of Apex; and Kevin Glenn Gusler of Burlington. Gus also is survived by three brothers, Henry Nelson Gusler of Greensboro, Jack Edward Gusler of Texas and Billy Ray Gusler of Elon. His sister, Shirley Gusler Ashley of Burlington, also survives. Gus was also a delight for his 20 nieces and nephews. Also surviving is his second wife of five years, Jeanette Sims of Burlington. Gus, an active Shriner who participated in many charitable events, asked that in lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor him could make gifts to Shriners Hospitals for Children, C/O Burlington Shrine Club, PO Box 1602, Burlington, NC 27215. A funeral service will be held 11:00am on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at Lowe Funeral Home Chapel by Rev. Gray Southern with the burial to follow with his wife, Margaret, in Alamance Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 5-7pm on Monday, February 16, 2015 at Lowe Funeral Home and other times at Gus's home in Stoney Creek on Tuesday.