In his words…
“I was lucky to be permitted to checkout in and fly the Hun at the ripe old age of almost 41. I enjoyed every minute of it, especially since I flew the same D and had the best Crew Chief the whole four years at Cannon AFB; and to paraphrase Will Rogers,” I never met a Hun driver I didn’t like”.
Perry moved to Pleasanton, CA to become Western General Manager, Scholastic, Inc. (Educational Books & Magazines), till final retirement in 1982. He was residing in Gold River, CA until 2017, enjoying Bridge, traveling, and lots of reunions. He’ll tell you he was enjoying the good life, approaching 99 on next birthday and planning on sticking it out until the Century mark.
Perry Minor Lusby, Col USAF, Ret., “Headed West” on March 21, 2017.
Here’s a Tribute by his son Mike…
“…My Dad passed away this morning at the age of 98 (he almost made his goal of 100). Jim [my brother] and I had flown out to see him over the weekend and the hospice nurse that called me today said he told her, “it was time to go since my boys have been here”. So she told him, “then it’s time to go”, and he did. What Jim and I saw when we visited him was not “Dad”. It’s hard to get the image out of my mind of how Dad looked and acted, but I’m glad we got to be with him at the end, and I’m glad he has now gone. He hated that we had to see him in the shape he was in and he wanted to die with dignity, and that was not happening at the end.
All of you just remember the robust guy that he was and all the stories. Up until this phase, hell, even just 4 weeks ago, he was still sharp in the mind and holding court in his cul-de-sac with his neighbors in his driveway – pouring martinis, smoking cigars, telling his stories, and just cracking everyone up. Over this last weekend, one of these fellow neighbors told us that last summer they all went to a plane museum and after seeing many, many planes, he asked dad, “so which ones have you flown?” Dad answered, “it would be faster to tell you which ones I haven’t flown!” There were only a few. 
As some of you may know, dad flew operations during D-Day, and in support of General Patton. He went on to fly jets up until he retired. The neighbor said that Dad had told him at least 10,000 stories over the years and never repeated one of them. The dude lived a full life! Dad ALWAYS knew someone no matter where he was traveling around the world – it was uncanny! Anyway, thank you all for being in his life!
Here’s to my mentor, great dad, and war hero.”
