Buddy (Bud) Lee Kootz

Buddy (Bud) Lee Kootz was born in 1930 in Hutchinson, Kansas. He had one older sister, Betty, a younger brother, Gerald, and a younger sister, Patricia.

Bud’s father, Art, worked in construction, and Bud helped him to build and renovate houses from the time he was 8. Art died when Bud was 14, so, to help with the family finances, Bud worked at whatever jobs he could find. His resume included yard work, the grocery store, the railroad, (where he was soon dismissed for being too young), harvesting wheat, and selling shoes. It was from these life experiences that he taught his children “it is easier to make a living with your brain than with your back.”

Bud immediately enlisted in the army upon completing high school. His enlistment required a “note from his mother” as he was just 17. After Basic Training, he was posted to Germany, where he worked in radio communications along the East German border. He signed up for 3 years but, when the Korean War began, Truman extended his tour to four.

Home from Germany, Bud worked for Continental Airlines as a station agent and baggage handler while he earned his commercial pilot’s license under the GI Bill. He began flying for Continental in 1954 in Albuquerque, NM, where he met a beautiful reservations agent named Margaret, or “Maggie”, who became the love of his life. Over the span of his career, Bud flew the DC-3, -6, -7, and -9, the Convair and Viscount, the Boeing 727, and he finished his career by flying the big DC-10. He retired from commercial flight in 1988. Two much smaller planes, a Comanche and a twin-engine Cessna 310, became his hobbies for a few additional years of flying.

After hanging up his wings for good, Bud and Maggie went back to his roots by building their own home in Silver City, NM, where he lived for 28 years before moving to Littleton, CO.

Bud and Maggie were happily married for 61 years before she passed away in 2014. They had 3 children - Sharon, Buddy, Jr., and Debbie. From them came 10 grandchildren, who went on to have 17 great-grandchildren, and there are 2 more on the way.

Bud was a man of integrity and stories! He will be missed.