"Silently one  by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,

Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Jon R. Busse "slipped the surly bonds of Earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings" on April 5, 2021 at his home in Stuart, Florida. He was born in El Reno, Oklahoma, went to elementary school in Terre Haute, Indiana and completed his junior high and high school education in Springfield, Missouri. He attended St. John's Episcopal Church, where "Rowdy Raoul" was an acolyte, and where he met the love of his life, Judy Woodside. Jon and Judy both attended the University of Arkansas. Jon majored in Mechanical Engineering and was president of Acacia Fraternity.

Upon graduation, he and Judy got married, and combined their honeymoon with a trip to Point Mugu Naval Base, California, where he was hired to work on the SSM-N-9 Regulus II Missile.

He soon heard of the creation of NASA, in Washington, D.C. He applied and accepted a job in 1961 at Goddard Space Flight Center, working on the Aerobee Rocket. His career at NASA spanned 35 years and included the following job titles: Head of Liquid Propulsion section (Sounding Rocket Division - SRD), Head of Propulsion Vehicles Branch SRD, Head of Delta Vehicle Systems, Chief of the Sounding Rocket Division, Project Manager for SPIRE (Shuttle Payloads Integration and Rocket Experiments), Project Manager for Landsat D/D, Director of Flight Assurance, and retired as Director of Engineering for Goddard Space Flight Center. His career was so special because he was at NASA from the beginning. He not only designed the rockets, but helped assemble them, launch them and then retrieve and interpret the data. These rockets were used in many different countries around the world. Jon took trips to Australia, Russia, Canada, South America, The Azores and Africa.  This fueled his love for travel that he never lost. This is among his most lasting legacies, that he passed this passion for travel to his entire family.

Jon received numerous prestigious awards not least of which is the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive given to him by President Ronald Reagan. He also received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal twice, the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive for career contributions, and the Goddard Exceptional Performance Award for contributions to the Sounding Rocket Program.

Jon chose early retirement to spend more time with his family and return to his great love of adventure travel with Judy and his now grown children. His global adventures included visits to Kenya, Tanzania, South and North Africa, Angel Falls in South America, Asia, Europe and best of all, several treks to Mount Everest Base Camp.

In spite of the attraction of distant places, he and Judy loved camping in Virginia and West Virginia just as much. This led them to buy land in Woodstock, Virginia and build a home, "Namaste'', on the Shenandoah River. There, they could entertain their four children and seven grandchildren. He was very active in Emmanuel Episcopal Church and devoted many hours to visiting nursing homes and entertaining residents with his adventures.

In his remaining years, Jon and Judy returned to Springfield, Missouri to become the primary caregivers for his ailing mother. From there, they changed course to Dayville, Connecticut, where they lovingly "grandparented" their two youngest grandsons.  They moved to Stuart, Florida in 2019.

He was preceded in death by his parents Dorothy and Herman Busse, of Springfield, Missouri, and his sister Kay Bujan of Austin, Texas (Charlie). He is survived by his wife Judy Busse, his four fabulous children, Lisa of Annapolis, Maryland (Tom), Karen of Stuart, Florida (Steve), Mark of Salt Lake City, Utah,  Jay of Burrillville, Rhode Island, and seven grandchildren; Liz (Chris), Jody (Joey), Dustin, Ann Marie, Rachel, Desmond, and Eamon. In lieu of cards or flowers, the family suggests a donation to Angels of the Amazon (angelsoftheamazon.org). Angels of the Amazon provides aid (health, educational, and economic) to indigenous people living in communities in the Tahuayo River Basin.  He and Judy were able to see firsthand the work that this charity accomplishes.

Please feel free to share a remembrance or message of condolence with the family through this online guestbook.