Ursula Marie Busby

Ursula Busby, 82 year old Woodward resident passed away, Monday, September 1, 2025 in Oklahoma City. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 am Saturday, September 6, 2025 in the Billings Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in the Braman Cemetery at 2:00 pm Saturday, September 6, 2025 in Braman, Oklahoma. Arrangements are under the direction of Billings Funeral Home.
Ursula Marie Strauss was born in a bunker in the city of Ansbach, Germany on August 21st, 1943 during the throes of the Second World War. She was the third daughter, and 6th child of Karl Franz Strauss and Maria Zippolt Strauss. Her family stayed in Ansbach until the war ended, after which they moved north to the small town of Lichtenfels where her father worked for the German government.
The entire family lived in a 3 bedroom, one bathroom, apartment. 3 boys in one room, 3, soon to be 4, girls in the other room and Oma and Opa in theirs.
They hunted for berries and mushrooms in the forest, collected pine cones for fuel and caught wild goslings to raise in the basement so the family could have a Christmas goose. They befriended American GI's, who gave them extra rations and chocolates, helping to save them from starvation.
She had a difficult childhood. There was violence and cruelty in her home.
She was a good student, so it was no surprise that as soon as she finished her primary education at 14, she took the opportunity to leave home and start her career training at Klinikum Werra-Meissner, a catholic hospital in the north central city of Witzenhausen.
The work was hard and dirty but by the time she was 20, she had earned her degree in nursing and she continued working as a Registered Nurse until she left Germany in February 1965, at the age of 22, to join the American GI that she had fallen in love with, and would end up being married to for 56 years, Leon Busby, in a place she had never heard of until she met him, Oklahoma.
The young couple were married in the Cleveland County courthouse on March 13, 1965 and very soon Leon accepted a position working for Baker Oil Tools in Woodward.
Later that same year, the young couple welcomed their first child Michael Lynn, and they moved to a small rent house on 16th street where they lived for 4 years, after which they bought their first home together on Webster Avenue, and lived most of the rest of their lives there.
Shortly after moving to their forever home in spring of 1970 they welcomed their second child Rebecca Nicole.
The family took vacations all over, from motorcycle and camping trips in the Colorado mountains to trips to see the Gulf of Mexico and play on the beach. Trips to visit her sister in Boston and her other sister in Iowa, camping along the shore of Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada. Places like Garden of the Gods, Dinosaur National Monument, a petrified forest, fossil hunting in Green River, Wyoming, watching bison and moose in Grand Teton and camping in Yellowstone were all on the itinerary.
Ursula was very active in the community. She was on a bowling league and won tournaments. She was very involved with her kids and their activities. Cooking German dishes for their classes and teaching her son's 6th grade class to sing Silent Night in German. Being a Den Mother for a Cub Scout troop, wrangling dance lessons and recitals, hauling kids to track meets and cheer leading tournaments, hog shows, and whatever else came along.
As the kids got older, she starting working outside the home again, doing bookkeeping for a local Gas Station. She soon started working as a bank teller at the Bank of Woodward, where she stayed for over a decade. So yes, she knew everybody.
It was during this time, spring of 1987, that she also reached another milestone goal when she became a Naturalized American Citizen. When asked why she did this, she stated emphatically that she wanted to vote! She actually said, "I want to Wote!" but we weren't supposed to tease her about her accent.
Ursula grew bored being a bank teller so she decided to go to Real Estate school, and within a few months she became a Real Estate Agent for Coldwell Banker. She loved being in the industry, probably because she could snoop around in houses, and would finally retire from it in 2002.
The retirement years were full of motor home trips to the mountains for the summer, and trips through the southern states in the winter. She and her daughter took a trip back to Germany in 1995 and back to Germany again in 2005 with her son. The entire family took a wild trip to Las Vegas for her daughter's wedding with vows exchanged at the top of the Stratosphere Tower. Ursula and Leon bought a home on Lake Eufala in 2008 and would spend nearly half of their time there, boating, fishing, grilling and enjoying being near the water. A lifetime dream of an Alaskan Cruise was also on the menu. As Leon's health began to fade, they traveled less and she became his caretaker.
When Leon passed in 2021, she decided to simplify her life and starting living back in Woodward full time. She and her little dog could be seen walking around the field station or sneaking cookies to her little neighborhood buddies. She really enjoyed the neighborhood kids stopping by to visit.
As her mental capacities diminished, in January of 2025 she moved into memory care for the final chapter of a well lived life.
Ursula was preceded in death by her parents, Karl and Maria, her brothers Eugen and Rudolf. Her sisters Helga, Krista and Carolla. And her husband of 56 years, Leon.
Ursula is missed by her daughter, Nicole Sears and her husband Kenny, her grandson, Brogan Sears and his wife Alyssa and her great grandson Asher, all from the Woodward area. She is also missed by her son, Mike, of Oklahoma City. Her big brother, Manfred and his family in Coburg, Germany. Her little brother, Karl and his family in Viereth-Trunstadt, Germany, and numerous nieces and nephews on both sides of the Atlantic.
And her little dog and partner in crime, Lucy.