David Rusch, 81, who ended up owning a well-known specialty printing firm that once employed him, died Monday, Jan. 8, in his winter home in Naples, Fla. The immediate cause was unknown, though Mr. Rusch had been in ill health. A resident of Elmhurst for many years before moving to Bloomingdale, he owned and ran P & A Century Graphics, a company that did specialty work for the city’s major advertising and graphics companies. An ardent golfer and long-standing member of the board of directors at Medinah Country Club, he was the club’s publicity chairman when Medinah was the host of the 1975 U.S. Open golf tournament. Coordinating international media coverage of the event, he worked with golf writers and broadcasters from all over the world. Mr. Rusch grew up in Maywood. While attending Proviso High School, he began dating a classmate, Beatrice Schoonover, whom he married in 1941. Early in World War II, Mr. Rusch was drafted into the Army. As a sergeant in the 103rd Infantry Division, a medical supply unit, he served in campaigns in Italy and France and was with American troops as they liberated Dachau, one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps in Germany. After working for various advertising and printing firms after the war, he settled in at Partridge and Anderson Co. in downtown Chicago. In 1976, he bought controlling interest in the firm, later buying and adding Century Electrotype to his company. He sold the company in 1985 when he retired. Besides his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Judy Stark; two sons, David K. and James; and six grandchildren. Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday in Salerno’s Rosedale Chapels, 450 W. Lake St., Roselle. Services will be at the chapel at 10 a.m. Friday.
