Obituary of Lyle Busby

Lyle Willard Busby passed away on September 20, 2014, where he was being cared for at Woodridge Terrace Care Center in Commerce City, Colorado. He was 88 years old. Lyle was born on the farm home in Armel, Colorado February 16, 1926, to Martha Eliza and James Merle “Tom” Busby. His family enjoyed one tale of his youth. Young Lyle refused to recite his line for the church Christmas pageant during rehearsals, but when his time came during the actual play, he spoke his line perfectly. A pattern Lyle would follow the rest of his life. At 9 years old, Lyle witnessed the Republican River Flood of 1935 in which his father, Tom, assisted in the rescue of a stranded family. Lyle attended school in a 1 room school house located in Armel, Colorado. After his mother’s death, the Busby family moved to Burlington in 1939, and Lyle attended the 8th grade in another 1 room school house South of Burlington. From there he went to Burlington High School. Lyle was very athletic, so football, baseball and track were very much enjoyed by him. He graduated from Burlington High School in 1944. After high school Lyle joined the Merchant Marines and was trained as a radio officer at Kallispell Island near Boston, Massachusetts. During training he was selected as an all-star catcher for the baseball team. Lyle was at sea for 3 years and navigated through combat zones in the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. He was discharged from the Merchant Marines in 1948. Returning home he joined the Army reserves. In 1949 he was called back to duty in the Army and in 1950 was sent to Korea after the war started. Lyle, as a corporal and expert on the 50 caliber machine gun, was part of the push to the border of Communist China. During the summer of 1951, China entered the Korean Conflict. At this point Lyle’s platoon was trapped behind enemy lines. He often talked about the tale of his escape by breaking through an enemy roadblock in a half track vehicle with his soldier buddy, Rag-mop, manning the trucks 50 caliber. Lyle drove through the road block while taking enemy fire. Rag-mop managed firing only 1 round before jamming his weapon. Despite this, Lyle, Rag-mop, and 20 or so South Koreans cleared the road block and were eventually evacuated to Inchon, Korea. Back to Burlington, Lyle, along with his brother Vernon (Swede), started a Frontier Service Station on Rose Avenue. There, not only did he serve the Burlington community, but he also fixed many flat tires on trucks that hauled rocks for Bonny Reservoir’s dam. The Busby Oil Company was formed across the street around 1953. It supplied the community with Shamrock fuel and oil, Goodyear tires, bulk fuel delivery and had a 1960’s state of the art machine to recap tires. Lyle’s next step was farm fertilizer and chemicals and Busby Oil Company evolved into Busby Inc. During this time period, not only did his business interests grow, but Lyle married Barbara Mae Short and started growing a family. The result of the marriage was Constance Jo, born January 1956, Ronald Lyle, born January 1958, and Cathy Ann, born November, 1960. Busby, Inc. became a major supplier of farm, fertilizer and chemicals for the Burlington area. A 2nd location in Idalia was soon added to better serve customers in Yuma County. In the early 1980’s the Busby Inc. team welcomed Mike Dorman who became General Manager. Mike expanded the company to regional proportions and allowed Lyle to concentrate on his true passion of farming, ranching and real estate investing. As early as 1969, Lyle acquired a ½ section of land from Richard Guy and Max Kramer North of Bethune which he developed. In 1975, he also bought more undeveloped land from Tom Price and placed wells and sprinklers on it. Concurrently, he was also developing raw land in Cheyenne County, a portion of the Kurt James Ranch, into irrigated farm land. For the next 40 years, Lyle bought, sold and traded farm and ranch land. This enterprise evolved into Busby Properties which owns and operates commercial and multi-family properties in Loveland, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo Colorado. The properties are managed by Ron & Kelly Busby, his son and daughter in law. The original farm north of Bethune is leased by Tony Mangus. In 1996, Lyle sold the Busby Inc facility to the Kugler Company, and in 2009 he left his home on the Busby Ranch North of Stratton when it was sold to Mike and Julie Livingston. From 2009 to Nov, 2013, while semi-retired, he lived just outside of Burlington. There he grew a garden and was especially proud of his gigantic pumpkins. He would watch sports on two TV’s at the same time, and enjoyed visits from friends, family and especially his great granddaughter, Chloe Ann. From November, 2013 till his death, Lyle was hospitalized frequently due to health concerns and resided at the time of his death at Woodridge Terrace. Lyle was preceded in death by his daughter, Constance Jo, Mother Martha and Father James Merle (Tom) Busby, brothers Edwin Earl, Tommy Dean, Leland (Bud), Vernon (Swede), Jim, Bill, Bob, Had (Harold), Danny Lee-all Busbys, and sisters Doris Rose Guthrie and Sarah Chadwick, a set of stillborn twins buried on the farm and a nephew Bob Busby. Lyle is survived by his son, Ronald Busby his wife, Kelly Busby of Loveland, Colorado, daughter Cathy Ann Carroll and husband Mike of South Dakota, brother Paul Douglas Busby of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, sisters Joyce Merriman of North Platte, Nebraska and Linda Allan of Fort Collins, Step Mother Drucella Dean Clausen of Homestead, Florida, grandsons Tom Busby of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Bolin Busby of Lincoln, Nebraska, granddaughter Elizabeth Jo Busby and great granddaughter, Chloe Ann Busby of Denver, Colorado. He is also survived by one step son of Ron Busby, Aaron Van Handel of Loveland, Colorado. Lyle was a lifetime sportsman and loved hunting and fishing with his family and friends, his grandson’s high school sports, the Denver Broncos, the Colorado Rockies, and when the Nebraska Corn Huskers lost.