Elden V. “Eldie” Cushman

MIDDLETON, Wis – Elden V. “Eldie” Cushman, age 82, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, with his family by his side.

Elden was born on Nov. 11, 1937, in Dodgeville, Wis., the son of Vurl and Ruth (Ryan) Cushman. Elden attended school in Barneveld, where he graduated High School in 1955 and was the class Salutatorian. During his H.S. years he played every sport he could, but his passion was baseball. Shortly after high school he purchased a yellow ’57 Chevy – it was truly his favorite car! He later became a Chevy truck lover for many, many years.

Elden married the love of his life, Donna M. Maly, on Jan. 10, 1961, and together they fielded many ball teams with their six children, 19 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Over the years he was also called “Grandpa Elden” by many of Donna’s daycare children.

Elden played Home Talent Baseball for Ridgeway until he was recruited by Ashton, where he played out the rest of his career, well into his 50s. He was a talented pitcher who was known for his curve ball. His other hobbies included bowling, hunting, and taking his sons on many fishing trips up north. He loved being out at his cabin in Ridgeway with the family, where he would pull the grandkids around in the trailer on the back of his John Deere tractor.

Elden loved his job building medical facilities all around the United States as a project manager for American Medical. He later was self-employed in construction, where he left his meticulous craftsmanship on multiple buildings around Madison and Middleton. In his retirement he took a job in Port Charlotte, Fla. for two years supervising the build of an apartment complex for the Gallina Corp. Elden enjoyed traveling in retirement with Donna to Florida in the winter months. He also loved his garage and with such a large family he often practiced social distancing before it became “a thing” by sneaking out to his garage, and his motto was “My garage needs me now – the least I can do is be there for it.” Elden was also known for his practical jokes, stories and sense of humor. He was recently seen on Facebook at Four Winds Manor telling some great punch lines.

Elden is survived by his loving wife, Donna, who he always greeted with a special wink when she visited him daily at the nursing home; his children, Vicki Cushman Edgren (Randy Winkelman), Todd (Diane) Cushman, Rodney Cushman (Jeanna Andree), Diana (Robert) Ziegler, Bradley (Colleen) Cushman and Chad (Shyanne) Cushman; his 19 grandchildren, Benjamin, Ryan, Staci, Justin, Amanda, Jeremy, Chelsea, Tyrell, Tierney, Trista, Tessa, Alisha, Zachary, Dylan, Garrett, Logan, Nicole, Brett and Alexis; and 14 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his three brothers and their spouses. Elden was preceded in death by his parents, Vurl and Ruth Cushman; his sister, Marion Cushman; his nephew, Jeffrey Cushman; great-nephew, Collin Cushman; his mother and father-in-law, John and Catherine Maly; and several brothers and sisters-in-law.

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