In memory of our friend,
David E. Busick - N5JJ
November 4, 1957 – February 21, 1988
Tribute to David Busick - N5JJ, from the March 1988 TDXS Bullsheet:
DAVID BUSICK , N5JJ
It didn't take long after David got his license for him to outgrow the confines of the novice bands. At age 11 he had mastered the code and instead of hearing WN5ZNY in the novice band, you were likely to hear him using N5NN or W5UW in the Extra band running a DX pileup at 30 WPM. When I would hear him, I'd call Max and tell him that the kid was at it again! David would call and ask how I knew it was he and tell me that he was going to blow me out of the water in the next Sweepstakes! Well, out of five hams in his family, no one else could send CW the way he could, and had he not run out of time, he probably would have blown us all away in Sweepstakes.
You would expect the youngest son of a Ham Radio family to be interested in the hobby, but David had a passion for it and it became an integral part of his life. By age 14, he had his Extra class license and had been on a DX-pedition to VP2LD, FM7WD and FM7AD/FS7. He was also licensed as XE1AN and contested from Mexico City. By the time he was out of high school, he was recognized by the contesting community as one of the up-and-coming super operators.
David had an innate talent for the code and he had a set of "golden ears." He could pick stations out of the noise on 160 meters that most of us couldn't hear. He enjoyed building antennas and was at home on top of a tower or stringing beverages through the swamps of Hitchcock.
David was a member of the Texas DX Society for nearly 15 years, but he was more an integral part of the club than just a member. The successes of Field Day and club activities such as the convention, XE2QQ, and XE2FU were, in large part, due to his efforts and contributions. N5JJ and NA5R got the Club interested in mobile contesting and they invented the Armadillo Run. The impatience of his youth helped push the club forward. His energy and enthusiasm helped motivate the complacent. His sense of humor and his sarcastic wit were an integral part of the club's personality. When he and Grady organized the "Rowdies," the club had little motivation and no treasury. In my opinion, the "Rowdies" awakened the club to our current philosophy; "there isn't anything the TDXS can't do when we set our collective minds to the task."
David contracted cancer about the time of the 1983 Armadillo Run. He remained active in the club and in contesting as long as he had the strength. He lost the battle with his disease on February 01, 1988 at the age of 30. In fitting irony, he became a Silent Key during the 1988 ARRL CW DX Contest.
N5JJ, 73 and DX, de (Tom Taormina) K5RC
An open letter to TDXS from the Busick family, March 1988:
To All The Members of Texas DX Society:
Don, Max and I thank you with all our heart for the lovely standing easel of beautiful anthuriums and they added so much to a lovely service for David. He loved his radio and radio friends so much and it was sad for him when he could no longer even listen to others on the air. In the four and a half years of his pain and suffering, he never once complained. He was always ready with a joke to his nurses and doctors and when one certain procedure had to be done with not even an aspirin. The doctor himself had tears in his eyes of admiration and said David told them jokes the entire time when even the nurse had to leave the room. He was never bitter and was hopeful right up to the end. He was really a very exceptional young man and while Don, Max and I, of course, thought he was wonderful, not until he got ill did we even guess at the reservoir of courage he had and would display the next few years.
We appreciate each and every one of you and please know that your expressions of sympathy in telephone calls, flowers, cards, each have a place in our hearts to honor an admirable son and brother who only gave us joy his entire life. The last smile of his life was for his brother Don when he could no longer talk.
Thank you all so very much, your caring will make a very sad loss for us more bearable.
Mary, Max (W5GJ), & Don Busick (K5AAD)
Obituary from the Houston Chronicle, February 23, 1988:
David Earl Busick, 30, died Sunday, February 21, 1988 in M.D. Anderson Hospital. Native and lifelong resident of Houston. Attended Madison High School, graduated from the University of Houston with B.S. and Master's Degrees, Amateur radio operator N5JJ extra class, member Texas DX Society, American Radio Relay League, United Methodist Church. Survivors: Parents, Mary and Max Busick; devoted brother, Donald Paul Busick; aunts, uncles, cousins, and special nurse, Gayle Culp. David will be missed by all who knew him. Funeral services, 1:00pm Tuesday, February 23, 1988, Forest Park Westheimer Funeral Home Chapel, Dr. T. Mac Hood and The Reverend Sydnor Tompson III officiating. Interment, Forest Park Westheimer Cemetery. For those desiring, memorials may be made to Memorial Fund, First United Methodist Church, 401 Present, Missouri City, TX 77489. Forest Park Funeral Home, 12800 Westheimer at Dairy Ashford. Phone 281-497-2330.