Sandhills_Sentinel

Brander Maxson (Bud) Pettway passed away on January 11th near his home in Pinehurst. He was just weeks away from turning 89 years old.

Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts to William Brander Pettway and Letitia Maxson on January 29th, 1930, Bud attended Edgewood Junior College in Rhode Island. Shortly before the Korean War, Bud began working in the mailroom of NBC New York. He enlisted in the United States Army, becoming an Intelligence Specialist in the Third Battalion Headquarters. Near the end of his tour, he received a combat infantry badge and the commendation medal for meritorious service.

After the war, Bud resumed his work at NBC while attending Columbia University, and he eventually became the Administrator of News Writers. He settled in Long Island after marrying Joan Torrence in 1958. The couple gave birth to Nancy Pettway-Holden in 1961, and twins John and Joan Pettway in 1963. Joan Pettway passed in 2013. Joan Torrance passed in September of 2018.

With his spectacular inability to accurately navigate the Long Island Railroad, Bud embraced a promotion in 1964 and transferred to the NBC Washington office as Supervisor of Film Operation. He made his home in nearby Bethesda, Maryland. Bud spent the next 24 years with NBC news, becoming part of the White House Press Corps and attending Correspondents Dinners by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan as the Manager of Technical Operations for NBC Washington.

Elizabeth Vaughan Romaine knew Bud during his Washington days.

“He had an ability to make you laugh under the best and worst of circumstances. He was unique and a special man who could light up a room with his smile or a joke.”

After years of tireless arbitration and labor-relation service to the National Association of Broadcast Employees in Washington D.C, Bud was elected president of the association in 1987.

In 1992, Bud began his golf life in Pinehurst, purchasing a home on the No. 4 course with his wife Ellen Rauber and becoming a member of the Tin Whistles. He estimated that he had completed roughly 10,000 rounds of golf. Bud scored multiple holes-in-one over the years and shot his age or better 26 times. Bud is survived by his two children, his seven grandchildren: Rachel, Erin, Ford, and Brooke Holden; and Maxson, Taylor, and Avery Pettway; and his longtime companion, Pam Baumann of Pinehurst. His wife Ellen predeceased him in 1999.

Bud wished to have the last word on his obituary, and in accordance with that wish, “Bud Pettway finished his last round; final score: 6-feet under par.”

Online condolences can be made at www.bolesfuneralhome.com  

Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.

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