JULIA BUSLACH 1916 – 2010

Julia was born in a little house on the prairie of Eastern Montana 93 years ago to Ernest and Lucy Reichenbach. She was the seventh of ten children and she grew up on a 1080 acre homestead helping her Dad work the land with horse-drawn farm implements. Life on the ranch was challenging with winter blizzards and summer rain storms that turned the soil into sticky "gumbo." The ranch was also a huge playground where Julia loved to ride horses, explore ancient Native American hunting encampments, and sleep on a pile of hay in the back of wagon under a starry summer sky. These early experiences gave her a lifelong love for Montana and an appreciation for being part of a large family in a small community. It also gave her confidence to tackle almost any task and the endurance to see it through to the end.

Julia loved school and she rarely missed a day even though it was seven miles to the nearest town. She earned a sports letter playing basketball and she won first prize in an essay contest. After graduation in 1933, her plans to attend the University of Montana were thwarted by the Great Depression. Instead of going to college, she joined her sister Louise's family in Kennewick and lived with them in a house along the river in what is now Columbia Park.

Julia met and married Elden Callaway and together they built a small stucco house on 1st Avenue in Kennewick. But times were tough, so they moved when Eldon's family invited them to join them in Southern California. Their daughter, Roberta, was born a year later. Sadly, Elden died from injuries received in a vehicle crash.

Now a young widow with a small child, Julia returned to Washington State where she enrolled in business college. Her first secretarial job was at the Benton County Extension Agency in downtown Kennewick. She watched the influx of workers arrive by train and wondered, as others did, what was being built at the Hanford project.

Julia met a cute sailor, Bob Buslach, who was stationed at the Pasco Naval Air Station. That was the beginning of a relationship that lasted over fifty years. After the end of WWII, they moved to Richland where three more children were born. Over the years, Julia enjoyed being a homemaker who was known for her hospitality and cooking skills. She was a professional-quality seamstress creating clothing of her own design using newspaper to draw her patterns. Her innate sense of style and design was apparent in the dresses, suits, formals, and holiday costumes she created and wore – and made for others. She won prizes for quilts she displayed at local quilt shows and she created stained glass art pieces. She loved flowers and rocks. She built a rock garden using rocks she collected from her travels.

Julia was proud of her "antique room" where she displayed her collection of unique items. She spent countless hours with her friend, Doris, at yard sales and second hand stores. She learned to repair, refinish and re-upholster antique furniture.

Community service was important to Julia. She was proud of her volunteer service at the Kadlec Auxiliary where she earned a thousand-hour service award. She and Bob were contributors to the Kadlec Hospital building fund and early supporters of the Richland Senior Center/Community Center. Julia was a Cub Scout den mother, Lady Elk, Eagles Auxiliary, dance club president, and travel club president. She learned to use a Braille writer and transcribed books into Braille. She made and donated countless fleece "lap robes" to nursing home residents so they could stay warm while sitting in their wheelchairs.

Julia was a lifelong learner with a quick and eager mind. She loved to read, attend classes, teach classes, watch TV documentaries, visit museums, and tour historical sites. As president of the Rambling Rovers travel club, she arranged and escorted bus trips and travelled throughout the US and Canada. She and Bob also traveled to Hawaii and Alaska via the Al-Can Highway and visited almost every state in the continental US, She made scrapbooks with photos and souvenirs from her travels and she kept detailed journals describing all she places she visited and people she met along the way. But the family ranch in Montana remained her most favorite place.

Above all, Julia loved to dance with Bob in the style of the big band era. They continued to dance through out their life together and they danced every week at the Pasco Senior Center and any other dance venue until health issues prevented them from getting out on the dance floor.

Julia became a devoted caregiver as Bob's health declined. After he passed away, she began her own slow decline. Even though she became increasingly frail, she never lost her sense of fun, her enjoyment of beautiful flowers, chocolate, bird watching, Shirley Temple movies, nice dresses, visits with friends, and of course, watching Lawrence Welk every Saturday night.

Julia passed peacefully from this life on a warm Saturday afternoon with the sun shining and the birds singing. She was reunited with Bob where they were undoubtedly dancing that same night to the sweetest big band sounds in Heaven.

Julia was preceded in death by all of her siblings, her husband, Bob, and her son, Tim. She is survived by her daughters Roberta, Nancy, and Terri; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews, special niece, Linda Giesick, and one sister-in-law, Betty Marie Reichenbach. She also survived by her dear friends, Nadene Badgett, Eva Oswalt, and Paula Franklin.

Thank you to Julia's wonderful caregivers, Roberta, Karen, Tracy, and Judy who improved the quality of her last days with special care, comfort and love. Thanks to Hospice nurses, Anita and Pat, and Chaplain Craig Timmons. Thanks also to Rev. Jim Dyson. Special thanks to Paula Franklin for continuing to cut and style Julia's hair when she could no longer go to the Talk of the Town.

A Celebration of Julia's Life will be at Einan's Memories at Sunset Events Center, June 14, 2010, at 2:00pm.