Obituary: Richard Hoover Busey

Richard Hoover Busey, a resident of Greenfield Senior Living of Oak Ridge, died Sunday, August 3, at Methodist Medical Center of complications related to his diabetes.

He was born April 6, 1919, in Cairo, Illinois, and is survived by his wife Mary, to whom he was married for 71 years. The Buseys made their home on South Tampa Lane in the Elm Grove neighborhood of Oak Ridge for over 55 years.

Busey grew up in Dallas, Texas, and graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1941. He acquired a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry in 1949 from the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied under Nobel Prize winner William F. Giauque.

He moved to Oak Ridge in 1952, where he worked as a research chemist specializing in low temperature calorimetry at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 31 years. He was a member of The American Chemical Society and The American Academy for the Advancement of Science. Late in his science career, Busey conceived and designed a unique micro calorimeter and after retiring in 1983 was recognized for this work by the Calorimetry Conference in 1990 with its “Christensen Award.”

Busey liked music, and his children remember him playing the autoharp and singing folk songs when they were growing up. He enjoyed the East Tennessee environment and took his family on many camping trip vacations and many trips to the Smokies to picnic and hike. He had a life-long interest in woodworking and was a member of both the Foothills Craft Guild and the East Tennessee Woodworkers Guild. Busey was well known for his custom-built furniture, antique reproductions, and artful wood turnings. He volunteered at Recording for the Blind for 15 years and enjoyed many travels with Elderhostel, including trips to Great Britain, Scandinavia, Australia, China, and Italy. Busey developed a late love of astronomy and spent many nights out with his telescope.

Other surviving family are son Robert Busey of Woodstock, Georgia, and son Clifford Busey of Oliver Springs; daughter Mimi Cat of Sevierville, and daughter Catherine Harris of Hendersonville; eight grandchildren, Beth Croley, Laura Welch, Bryan and David Busey, Jessica and Logan Busey, and Natalie and Christopher Harris; four great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter.

The remains will be cremated. A gathering of friends and family is planned for August 21 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Weatherford Mortuary in Oak Ridge. The family suggests that any memorial be sent to the American Diabetes Association Research Program or the Tennessee Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

An online guest book can be signed at www.weatherfordmortuary.com.