William E. "Bill" Bushong

William E. “Bill” Bushong, 70 of Bristol, passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017 at Elkhart General Hospital.

He was born May 31, 1947 in Syracuse, IN to Samuel and Clara (Bauman) Bushong. He married Linda A. Pavoni on Nov. 9, 1974 in Syracuse. She survives along with 2 daughters, Lisa (Chad) Audette of Portage, MI and Jennifer (Ryan) Holmes of Elkhart; 3 grandchildren, Haley, Elaina, and Brenna Holmes; a brother, Sam Bushong Jr. of Warsaw and 2 sisters, Lucille (Gordon) Groves of Middlebury and Linda (Stan) Nicolai of Syracuse. He was preceded in death by his parents and twin brothers, Larry and Gary Bushong.

Bill graduated from Syracuse High School and attended Goshen College. He retired as a Medical Technologist and served as supervisor of reference and proficiency for over 40 years at Miles Laboratories, Bayer and Siemens. He was a member of St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church. Bill was involved in NHRA drag racing for 50 years. His all-time career high was when he won the world championship in 1987 with the Dick LaHaie racing team.

The family will receive friends from 4-8 pm Tuesday, Dec. 26th at Stemm-Lawson-Peterson Funeral Home, Elkhart and an hour prior the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 am Wednesday at St. Vincent DePaul Church. Rev. Matthew Coonan will officiate. Interment will be at St. Vincent Cemetery at a later date.