Bob Buser, class of 1956

"I am certain you remember Bob Buser (class of 56.) Yesterday evening he was at the Shell station. Bought a cup of hot chocolate, had a heart attack and died. That's all the details I have. No obit in the paper yet. Will keep you updated.

We saw Bob mainly in the Summer. He was announcer and sound technicion for the Kable Band. Had not heard of him having any medical problems. He and Sylvia sat together at Sara's mothers funeral a couple months back." Dave and Sylvia

Update: Rockford Register Star, Dec. 25, 2008: Robert E. Buser, 70, of Mount Morris died Monday, Dec. 22, 2008. He was a lifelong resident of Mount Morris. The oldest son of Gail and Harriet (Conrad) Buser, born July 26, 1938. He was a graduate of MMHS, class of 1956, and went on to the University of Illinois, getting a degree in mechanical engineering. Later he returned to achieve his master's degree. He loved the Illini and stayed connected by his work on the Engineering Alumni board. Bob was also involved with the Kable Concert Band. He announced the band for the past 25 years. He was on the board of the Mount Morris Senior Center, and he would never miss the Fourth of July parade in his blue 1950 Dodge truck with the Dixie band. Many may remember Bob in his famous black and white 1953 Ford that took him to Rockford every day, over 600,000 miles, and earned him a Phillips 66 Trop Arctic radio commercial and a spot on WGN-TV. Bob worked for Sundstrand Aviation and then Hamilton Sundstrand for 43 years. He worked an additional two-year contract to finish a pet project, the F22 Raptor. He loved his job and the places it took him, and the people he met and worked with. Family was very important to Bob. He is survived by his fiance, Doreen White of Mount Morris; brothers, Frederic (Rita) Buser of Byron and Charles (Deborah) Buser of Leaf River; niece, MaryAnn (Rich Akers) Fredericks of Milledgeville, Anne (Mike) Felton of Norcross, Ga., Kaila (Jim) Slade of Hanover, Amy Buser of Missoula; nephew, Nathaniel (Amy) Buser of Byron; one great-niece; four great-nephews; cousin, Gretchen Diab of Mount Morris; and aunt, Elva Buser of Mount Morris. Funeral at 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 29, in Finch Funeral Home, with the Rev. Larry Jameson officiating. Burial in Adeline Cemetery in Adeline. Visitation from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28, in Finch Funeral Home in Mount Morris. Memorials have been established for Kable Concert Band and the Mount Morris Senior Center Elevator Fund.

Guest Blog--News from Mt. Morris

Watching them change gas signs and flush hydrants
by Murray, class of '56

This has not been a good time for Mt. Morris. Besides the high gas prices, poor economy and the market crash that everybody else has had to endure, Mt. Morris residents have seen the town's livelihood threatened by two of our three major employers that departed or soon to be departing. Quebecor World ( Formerly Kable Printing) the third employer is currently highly medicated and on oxygen. They filed Chapter 11 last Jan. and filed unsuccessfully to borrow 1 billion to stay in business. Corporate management did not turn the business around and it is still in deep trouble. The last report on the Toronto Stock Exchange showed their stock last closing at 7 cents. Yeah, that's right....7 cents. It was $18 dollars when I left in '95. Guess I shoulda stayed huh? For all you good people who want to return to beautiful Mt. Morris I will offer you my house. I'm on Hannah right across the street from the golf course. It comes with a bright yellow golf cart and a prayer. If the wind is right you can sometimes hear bagpipe music coming from Sylvia Saunders, 4 houses south of us. If you have something to offer Curt Miller, he will bring you sweet corn when it's ready. Pete Smith drives by every day making the rounds so if you are in his sights he will stop for a visit. It's a golden opportunity to find out everything you ever wanted to know about the Red Sox.

On your next trip to Mt. Morris you might consider saving on gas and flying in. They just built two more hangers at our airport for a total of 7. You won't have any problems storing your plane. Plus, of course they have that great fly in breakfast on the 4th. We had some light poles and lights donated to Dillehay Park which are currently being installed. The park has 4 baseball diamonds, 4 soccer fields, 2 tennis courts, 6 basketball courts, two picnic pavilions, a super playground facility for tots, two sand volleyball courts and Warren Long. It's one of the few things in town getting bigger. Makes me want to be a kid again among other things. We walk there every morning and meet people that have apparently committed to getting into shape. You know... the ones with the ankle and/or wrist weights that stride along pumping their arms. Yeah, that's right, the ones that last about 3 days. I was shooting baskets the other day after walking when a couple of teenagers approached and I thought they might challenge me to a game of horse. They watched for a few minutes and saw how old I was and more than likely figured it wasn't worth the risk/reward.

As you would expect there really isn't much to tell about Mounder town this year. The water tower didn't need painting so that was a bummer. Some of the natives enjoyed watching the people at the Mobil station change gas prices every few days. The flushing of the fire hydrants was interesting. Of course we did have that tornado blast through here in August. The people at the golf course are still cleaning up.

With the departure of Watt Publishing and Kable News there will less people to sit around and watch the grass grow. The governor is foolishly trying to close Lowden Park and Castle Rock Park. Hell, Lowden makes a profit every year! Go Figure. There is a Family Restaurant on the main drag that does quite a good business. The owner died and wanted his remains returned to his home land so they shut the restaurant down for a few weeks. When they were open there were many cars parked on the main drag for breakfast. When they closed you could shoot a cannon down Wesley in the morning and not hit a thing.

When school started I was sitting by the window having coffee and reading the news when I looked out my window and saw the two teenage boys across the street. Pretty soon the school bus stopped and picked them up. Huh? I mean, we live about 3/4 mile from the school. That, coupled with the fact that gas prices have been out of sight, caused me to wonder has the school board lost their minds? We already have the expense of trucking them down to Oregon. No wonder youngsters are out of shape. I guess I need to stop in at a board meeting one of these days.

Note: I've been waiting for an article from a classmate with some local news, but never got it, so Murray who has a regular e-list he sends to ex-pats agreed to let me use his latest.

Ladies' Breakfasts

The women of the class of 1957 have often met in July before the class reunion for breakfast. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, although I've attended quite a few over the years, but here's the history as Lynne recalls it:

"For fifty years the ladies of our class have met for breakfast. After our graduation, some married, some went off to college and trade schools, others entered the work force. It became our custom to get together as often as we could, as many of us that could. These early breakfasts were held in my mother's kitchen or dining room depending on how many showed up. We sent out notes or called--e-mail hadn't been invented yet! All came who could. We'd catch up on boyfriends, work opportunities or college activities. The subjects changed over the years to finding jobs, finding husbands, having babies, and buying houses. Then we moved on to middle age issues (for some finding new husbands and new houses) such as the right school for the kids, and then on to aging parents, retirement and for some, widowhood."

At some point, it became a bit more formalized and we began meeting in restaurants. The first one I remember attending was around 1979 and I think it was at Maxon's. The photo below, sent by Nancy S., was taken at the restaurant in the Oregon Conover Square, and because I'm wearing glasses and had a perm, I'd date it as 1993, but she says 1990 was written on the back.


Left to right: Francine K., Diane B., Sara Y., Jean M., Sylvia T., Nancy S., Norma C.

This photo is from 2003 and the women of the class of 1957 met with those of class of 1956 at the restaurant at the White Pines State Park. Neither class was having a reunion that year, so there weren't as many people in town.


Front row left to right: Diane B., Francine K., Priscilla D., Katie Dirksen, our PE teacher in high school, Carolyn D. (56), Jane K. (56), A.J. O. (56) Sylvia T., Beverly B. (56), Phyllis G. (56). Back row, left to right: Marion D., Jean M., Norma C., Barb N. (56)

Lynne F., Sylvia T. and Norma C. in 1999
Lynne writes: "We'll all be looking forward to meeting again on June 30 (time and place tba) for the annual ladies' breakfast."