Roscoe "Ross" Busick

Birth: He was born around 1913 in Michigan.  

Family Information:

Son of Bert and Mabel Busick.

Half-brother of Beulah and Charles Miller.

Brother of Fred, Vivian, Iris, Byron and Bill Busick.

Description:  

Pre-Colony History: The family came to the colony from Washington in March 1922.  

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony: In April of 1922 he was part of a group of students who worked in the garden along with Emma Kapotsy, Bennett Babb, Dover Cryer, Fred Busick, Clifford Synoground, Harold Kemp, Dawson Cryer, Charles Lee, Brooks Merrel and Max Beavers.

In 1930 he was listed as a linotype operator in the print shop.

In September 1931 one hundred fifty sacks of beans and peas were picked in the forenoon by a volunteer crew of men, women and children. The crowd gathered a little after 7 am and was divided into different crews to look after different fields; by 11:30 the job was done. Volunteers included: Killian, Butts, Lloyd, Baldwin, Waters, Doc Williams, Quentin, Fred Busick, Roscoe Busick, Byron Busick, Vivian Busick, Graves, Webb, John Allred, Melvina Hullinger, Fred Levan, Goeke, Eldred, Tom Farrell, Claud Allred, Earl Swenson, Mackie, Frank Collins, George Collins, Boydelatour, Cleve Campbell, Mr. Caves, Clarence Long, Harry Rennick, Dee Kurtz, Pittman, Edminster, Walter Fread, Clarence Fread, Mrs. Herron, Woodruff, J.W. Gilbert, H.M. Wood, Winegar, Bert Moore, Lindwall, Ole Synoground, Rohr, Carnahan, Hoens, Mrs. Wooley, John Neill, Robert Roe, Warren Roe, Nesnow, Bartrum and B. Stevens.

In February 1934 he was a member of the Sunday Volunteer Gang including: Bill Heath, Charles Brown, Rob Roe, Walter Gaulke, Dad Thomas, Ernest Prodon, Bert Busick, Roscoe Busick, Gossett, Jack Carnahan, Ed Hiatt John Calgarry, Tom Cunningham, Phillips, Real Baril, Nick Lentz, Ed Mansfield, Septer Baldwin, F.W. Fay and F.S. Hammond. They spent the day cutting some eight hundred feet of cypress lumber into two-inch planks, twenty inches wide and as clear as a hound's tooth to be used for shingles.

In July 1936 he and Lionel Crossland relieved the situation at the power plant when they joined the "graveyard shift" there. Those old boilers were "gluttons for fuel" and there'd been a shortage of workers which had caused much trouble. 

Other Info: In 1928, he performed at a theater performance as part of a sextette which included Fred Jensen, Turner, Fischer, McLane and Landrum.

In April 1928 Miss Wilson was teaching piano classes to several boys and girls in the colony. The members of the Boys' Harmonica Club had had six weeks of classes and included Carl Besse, Roslyn Armacost, Robert Roe, Charles Wichmann, Kenneth Thurman, Isom Shoemaker, Roy Swenson, Fred and Roscoe Busick.

In the summer of 1934 many of the colonists wanted to commercialize the colony dances by charging admission to outsiders so they could hire bands to come. After several bitter debates on the subject, it was finally agreed that colonists could lease the Roof Garden on evenings when it wasn't being used by the colonists, hire a band and charge admission if they so desired. In July 1934 a group including John Dougherty, Roy McLean, Rhea Mae Baldwin, Lloyd Potter and Roscoe Busick did lease the facility for Friday July 20th when Tony Babin would play, and July 26 when they would have a Mexican orchestra. They announced that outsiders would pay an admission fee of 75 cents.

After the May Day Revolution of 1935, he signed a statement supporting John Szpila's letter, which had been published in the September 21, 1935 issue of the "Llano Colonist" and spelled out the reasons the overthrow of former General Manager, George T. Pickett, had been necessary.

Post-Colony History: In May 1937 it was reported that Vivian had received a letter from her mother announcing that the family had had a very pleasant trip to Tacoma, Washington. In July of that year Iris [and presumably her husband] joined them there.

Death:  

Sources: Family Source: Val Busick; "Llano Colonist": April 22, 1922, April 14, 1928, July 14, 1928, September 5, 1931, February 3, 1934, July 21, 1934, October 12, 1935, July 18, 1936, May 8, 1937, July 10, 1937; US Census: 1930