Thomas Leroy BUSCH

BUSCH, BOYLE, BARTELL, ZIESMER, FISHER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/13/2010 at 12:04:11

Thomas Leroy "Shrub" Busch, 60, of 1803 Second St. SW, died Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006, at St. Luke's Hospital following a brief illness. Mass of Resurrection: 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Ludmila Catholic Church. Burial: Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery. Friends may call at Cedar Memorial Funeral Home on Friday from 3 to 8 p.m., with a vigil service at 6 p.m. The Rev. Tom McDermott will officiate.

Surviving, in addition to his wife, Diane, are two sons, Bob Busch of Marion and Tom Busch (Meg) of Marion; three stepchildren, Jason Boyle (Kelli) of Cedar Rapids, Josh Boyle (Genevieve) of Des Moines and Tara Boyle (fiance Mike) of Cedar Rapids; two grandchildren, Alexis and Austin Busch; and two stepgrandchildren, Madison and Logan Boyle. He was preceded in death by his parents, and a half sister, Jeanette Bartell.

Tom was born July 8, 1946, in Garner, Iowa, the son of LeRoy Busch and Charlotte (Kelly) Ziesmer. He married Diane K. Fisher on June 9, 1995, in Las Vegas, Nev. Tom graduated from Garner-Hayfield High School, where he earned All-State awards in football, basketball, track and baseball. Tom received a football scholarship to Iowa State University, where he earned a B.S. degree and set many school and Big 8 Conference records as a wide receiver. He was honored in his senior year at ISU when he was selected to play in the Blue Gray game in Montgomery, Ala., and in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. He was then drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals professional football team, where he played one year, and then went on to play for a year in the Canadian professional football league. For the last 37 years, Tom went on to coach and teach school in Klemme, Iowa , Cedar Rapids Washington and Jefferson high schools, and Wilson and Roosevelt middle schools. Tom had many hobbies and especially enjoyed playing on various slow pitch softball teams as well as many major fast pitch softball teams including Butt'r Topp out of Clear Lake, The Bombers out of Des Moines, Collins Radio out of Cedar Rapids, JSK Engineering and Mahoneys in Cedar Rapids, where he made life-long friends. He was inducted into the Iowa Fast Pitch Hall of Fame in 1998, the Cedar Rapids Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame. He was a member of CREA and St. Ludmila's Catholic Church.

Tom especially enjoyed spending time with his family and close friends, along with golfing, fishing and coaching high school and middle school football, basketball, track and girls softball. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established.

The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
December 6, 2006