On 15 March 1964, Cousins was stricken while on his ranch near Indio, California. He was transported to Casitas Hospital in Indio where he died later that day. Funeral services for Cousins were conducted at All Saints Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills, California and he was buried with full military honors, including a flyover, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles. He was memorialized by the West Point Association of Graduates as an air pioneer who helped bring American air power from it beginnings to its power in World War II
