September
1939-August 1996
Joe Buswell was a
truly remarkable person. A capable
engineer, a musician, a pilot, a radio amateur and a computer expert demonstrate
his many facets of interest and expertise.
It was not unusual for Joe to pass a business card which would say “Joe
Buswell, Professional Engineer” or “Joe Buswell, “Have Banjo, Will
Play”.
Joe was a proficient
musician and played piano, guitar and banjo.
He used to attend blue grass festivals and play with some known
musicians. Also, he loved aviation
and became a pilot with multi-engine and instrument rating license. He also obtained his amateur radio license and received the
call, WA5TRS, which he retained until receiving his Extra class call of K5JB.
While working at
Tinker AFB, he became involved in computer technology and developed a system to
track aircraft maintenance bottlenecks and was able to speed up maintenance by
several days. This of course led
him into getting involved in the packet radio software development.
He was instrumental in the development of software for bulletin board
operation using the Apple computer, at a time when there were no hard drives and
the entire BBS was using two floppy drives.
Our dear Joe
succumbed to cancer on 29 August 1996. As
per one of Joe’s last requests, a donation from the estate was made to
Oklahoma State University to establish a scholarship in the school of
engineering. He has been and will
be missed by those who knew this extraordinary individual and dear friend.
PS.
I have had the good fortune and the blessing of having known all of you
through Joe Buswell. He was my mentor and teacher who got me involved in amateur
radio hobby. I am sure that without
him, I would not have had the pleasure of making so many dear friends who have
enriched my life. Hoss (WA5ZAI)
