James Preston Pusack

PUSACK, OTTO, PRESTON, WILT, SHAVER

Posted By: Tara (email)
Date: 5/20/2009 at 13:20:52

James “Jim” Preston Pusack, 63, of Iowa City, died suddenly of a heart attack on Tuesday, December 30, 2008, returning from a family Christmas in Davidson, NC.

Visitation will be held Saturday from 9:00 to 11:00 am at Trinity Episcopal Church, 320 E. College Street in Iowa City. The funeral service will be held at 11:00 am at Trinity, immediately following the visitation. There will be a private burial in the spring at Oakland Cemetery.

Jim was born on June 1st, 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of George and Marian Pusack. He grew up in Westfield, NJ, where he was a Boy Scout, a choir boy, and, from an early age, a lover of languages. Jim earned both his BA and MA in German from Johns Hopkins University, studying abroad for a year in Munich, Germany. After two years in the army as a linguist in army intelligence he went on to earn his PHD in German from Indiana University.

Jim taught in the department of German at the University of Iowa since he moved to Iowa City in 1974 and was serving as Chair at the time of his death. He devoted his research and development efforts over the years to foreign language authoring tools, authentic video resources and multimedia software. He was a faculty member of the FLARE (Foreign Language Acquisition Research and Education) interdisciplinary doctoral program and taught courses on multimedia and second language acquisition. Jim was a proud member of the community. Until recently he served on the boards of the 4Cs (Community Coordinated Childcare) and IARMAC (International Academy for Russian Music, ARTS, and Culture), and he was a supporter of Shelter House and of the Englert Theatre.

Jim was a wonderful father to his daughter Elizabeth (Betsy), whom he welcomed to the world in 1986. He gave her his love of music, adventures and stories. Jim also shared his life with Sue Otto, to whom he was engaged to be married in February of 2009.

Jim was preceded in death by David Pusack (Uncle), Madeleine Preston (Aunt), and John Wilt (Nephew). Jim is survived by his parents George and Marian Pusack, his brother Bill Pusack, Bill’s wife Priscilla, their two children Tim and Anna, his sister Ann Wilt, Ann’s husband Nelson, his daughter Elizabeth, his daughter’s mother Joanne Shaver, and his fiancée Sue Otto. Jim was smart, sweet, generous and funny. His humor and heart will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to the Iowa City Shelter House, 144 E. Prentiss Street, Iowa City, IA 52240.

On-line condolences may be directed to www.lensingfuneral.com.