David Robert Buse

1938 - 2017

June 14, 1938-September 9, 2017 David Robert Buse, 79, died at his Arlington, WA home on September 9, 2017, coincidentally the 134th birthday of his paternal grandmother, Ida Buse. The cause was cancer. Born in Everett, WA on June 14, 1938, to Delmer and Mary Buse, Dave grew upon Smith Island, attending Washington and Whittier Elementary and North Junior High schools and was a 1956 graduate of Everett High School. He was a member of Tau Phi Delta fraternity at the University of Washington where he earned his B.S. degree from the College of Forestry in 1960. Dave married Virginia (Susie) Price of Seattle on December 27, 1959. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2009, and Susie preceded him in death in 2011. After several years as a contractor in Arlington, Dave joined Buse Timber and Sales of Everett, the saw mill on Smith Island begun in 1946 by his father and uncle, Norman Buse. Dave retired as president of Buse Timber and Sales of Everett, after selling the mill in 2004. He married Martha Graham of Little Rock, AR, on November 8, 2014. He is survived by his wife, Martha Buse; daughter, Shannon Buse of Stanwood, WA; sons, Kevin Buse (Michelle) of Stanwood, Bill (Kami) and Mike Broderick (Margie); and grandchildren, Danica and Savanna Buse; Austin and Corbin Wilhonen; Amanda, Luke and Lee Hayden; and Sean Broderick; sisters, Lynette Evans of San Francisco, Janet Hallauer of Mukilteo, WA and Barbara Berry of Stanwood. In the early 1960s, Dave and Susie built a home near Trafton on acreage that he turned into a woodland park that became the site of numerous gatherings of family and friends. A devout Christian, Dave was a member of Free Methodist Church in Arlington, where he drew spiritual sustenance from members of a Bible study group that met weekly over the past 30 years, and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Everett. An outdoorsman, gun collector, avid reader and photographer, Dave was a gentle giant. A devoted son, husband and father, he was an accomplished hunter, pilot and boatman whose children fondly recall him flying the family above the Arctic Circle in his favorite Cessna 180, where the family camped under the wing of the plane; of packing the family's horses into the High Country above Glacier Peak; of leisurely cruises along the lnland Passage to Alaska on his 38-foot cabin cruiser, Dawn Treader, which he last piloted into the San Juan Islands for a family outing on July 15. His annual bird-hunting expeditions into Montana with Kevin and his friend, Dave Schuurman are legendary, and his last big kill was a marauding black bear that he shot in his apple orchard two years to the day before his own death. Private graveside services will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 23, 2017 at Arlington Cemetery, 20310 67th Ave NE, Arlington, WA with funeral services to follow at 4:30 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2521 Lombard Ave, Everett, WA.