ELKHART -- Mr. Nusbaum died of natural causes at 8 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 8, 2009) at Riverside Village. \

He was born in Aitkin County, Minn., to Harold Jay and Gladys (Meeker) Nusbaum Aug. 17, 1918.

He married Catherine E. Brown on Aug. 11, 1940, at St. John's Episcopal Church, Elkhart .

He survives along with one son, John J. (Linda) Nusbaum of Elkhart ; one daughter, Crystal E. (Ken) Neff of Rogersville, Tenn.; five grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and several great-great-grandchildren.

One granddaughter, Stacy Bourn, is deceased, along with brother Harold Nusbaum Jr. and three sisters, Evelyn Grisamer, Louise Hansen and Betty Bowers.

Mr. Nusbaum worked at the Selmer Co. as a band instrument maker from 1940 until he retired in 1982. He was a member of St. John's since 1939.

He graduated from Elkhart High School in 1937 and served in the U.S. Army during WW II as a crew member aboard a B-29 with the 677th Bombardment Squadron.

He was a lifetime member of Elkhart Elks Lodge 425 and a very early member of the Simonton Lake Sportsman Club. He was an avid fisherman and enjoyed playing cards.

Friends of John Jay Edward Nusbaum, 90, may call from 1 to 2 p.m. Monday at St. John's Episcopal Church, 226 W. Lexington Ave. The service will begin at 2 p.m. Monday, immediately after military honors are rendered.

The Rev. Sally Weaver will officiate. Private entombment will take place at the Hope Mausoleum in Rice Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be given to St. John's or to the Humane Society of Elkhart County.