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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Leader

Honored by:
Bruso Gaber

Edmund (Eddie) Bruso was a midwestern pioneer of flight. Eddie and his Jenny plane with its' Curtiss OX-5 engine inaugurated the town of Rhinelander, Wisconsin into the age of flight during the late 1920s. He was Oneida County's first licensed pilot (transport pilot's license #6396, issued by the Deptment of Commerce, Aeronautics Branch), as well as the first citizen to own a plane. As an early pioneer of flight, he faced hardships known to many early pilots: a lack of airfields, planes with no lights or brakes, and planes with few instruments. There was not even a compass on board. To arrive at his destination, Eddie used his knowledge of the terrain or followed a railroad track leading to a town.

Eddie's passion for flying was not diminished by these difficulties. Like most pilots of his day, he solved these problems by serving as mechanic for his own bi-planes, landing in bumpy fields, or at the county fairgrounds where the racetrack served as an early runway. To share and spread his love of flying, he became a regular barnstormer at air shows throughout Wisconsin. With the help of a friend, Eddie established a flying school in his hometown, taking hundreds of paying customers up for their first flights around Rhinelander.

Eddie Bruso was a devoted family man to wife (Frances "Nancy" Bruso) and their three young children (Dolores, Richard and James). Sadly, his children were never to experience the exhilaration of flying with their father. It is unknown who had control of the plane when he and a student lost their lives in a dual-control Bird Airplane that crashed into a swamp near Green Lake, Wisconsin on June 11, 1930. Though only 25 years old when the accident occurred, Eddie's legacy lives on. His quest for a new landing field was finally realized at Rhinelander's first airport. During a July 1979 rededication ceremony, Eddie was acknowledged for his contribution to the advancement of aviation. Several of his students went on to serve as managers and pilots at that airport. They continued to spread the importance of flight for tourism and business in Northern Wisconsin.

Like other pioneers, Eddie Bruso overcame the incredible hardships facing his profession and lived with a passion for flight that inspired those that followed him. Seventy-five years later, we (his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren) thank him for the spirit of adventure he instilled in us, and in others, by his example.