Obituary of Eugene R. Busby

Eugene R. “Gene” Busby passed away Wednesday, July 2, 2014 at home. Gene and his twin brother Alvin were born August 16, 1930 in Ellensburg, Washington, the second set of twins to bless Glenn and Helen Busby’s family. After graduating from Ellensburg High School, Gene earned his BA in Economics at Central Washington State College. He also served in the Army Reserve for seven years. Gene met JoAnn D. Cook and they were married on December 22, 1954. They have three children: Scott Busby (Yakima), Teresa Noreen (Bellevue) and Brett Busby (Ridgefield). After graduating from Central, Gene joined Busby, Inc., the family business owned by his father. The former blacksmith shop started by Gene’s granddad evolved with the design and marketing of equipment for local farmers and ranchers. Gene helped advance the design of cattle squeezes and hay loading equipment, and sold equipment to dealers in the Western United States. Busby, Inc. first began the manufacture of heavy industrial equipment in 1965, building road sanding equipment for the Washington State Department of Highways. They also built refuge containers and compactors for the King County garbage system and container equipment for Crowley Maritime. The company supplied major barge and steamship lines, as well as projects for Boeing and other major companies. In 1975, Busby, Inc. outgrew their Ellensburg facilities and made a major move to Moses Lake, Washington. Ready-made space was available at the site of the former Larson Air Force Base. In 1979, the company built its first oil rig for use on the North Slope of Alaska for Brinkerhoff Signal Co. and other oil drilling companies. Eventually, Busby, Inc. had facilities in Moses Lake, Anchorage, Vancouver, and Federal Way. Gene had a pilot license with an instrument rating, enabling him to keep in contact with the different locations. Living on Moses Lake proved to be a great place to go water skiing and Hobe Cat sailing, and golfing at the Moses Lake Golf Club. In 1987, Gene and JoAnn relocated to Huntington Beach, California, where he obtained a California contractor’s license and established GBI Shielding, Inc. The business did design, installation and testing of EMI, RFI and MRI chambers for the military, aerospace and hospitals. Gene also explored the development of software that would assist the business. He did consulting work for three years with MKA Systems Consulting, Inc. The Busbys then moved to Burbank, California where Gene became a project manager for Columbia Fabrication Co., Inc. The project was part of the new $800 million UCLA Hospital. They enjoyed playing golf every week at the DeBell Golf Course and belonged to the Clickers & Flickers Camera Club. The club had numerous photo tours with a number of members involved in the photo industry. In 2006, in order to be closer to their family, Gene and JoAnn moved back to Washington and joined the Jubilee Community at Hawks Prairie. They were in charge of the Jubilee Hiking Club. Gene was also a member of the Golden Gliders Hiking Club and the Olympia Camera Club. During this time, Gene did consulting work with FEMA for three years. Gene enjoyed a variety of community activities. He was an Eagle Scout, a member of the Elks, Rotary, Chamber of Commerce and Junior Chamber of Commerce. Skiing was Gene’s favorite sport. The family enjoyed some great trips to ski resorts in the western United States. While in Huntington Beach, he and JoAnn were members of the Seagate Yacht Club, where he served as commodore for one year. Gene enjoyed spending time with his wife, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They will all miss him. Please leave memories of Gene or condolences for his family in the Guestbook below.