Orville D. Buschi
BUSCHI Orville D. Buschi High school teacher, WWII Navy veteran, 85 Orville D. Buschi, 85, of Chester Township passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday, July 1, 2008. Mr. Buschi, known to most as Don, was born in Martins Creek, Pa., on March 17, 1923. He left home in 1943 for service in the Navy during World War II. He was stationed at Patuxent Bay Naval Base and performed aviation radio testing during the war. He attended East Stroudsburg University and graduated with a BA degree in Spanish, French and Modern European History. He taught for 37 years, most of which were in Summit High School. He was the recipient of Fulbright Hayes grants, so he spent a year teaching in Albuquerque, N.M., and Nicaragua, Central America, at their universities. His passion was travel, and most years he spent spring break taking his students on tours of Spain. He retired in 1988. He moved to New Jersey in 1980 and spent most of the last 20 years living in Chester Township. In retirement, he spent his winters in Naples, Fla.
Don is survived by his beloved and devoted wife, Jennifer (nee Borealo); loving sons, Mark, Neil and Christian; his daughter, Faith, and his adoring sisters, Lydia Ricci and Mary De Palma. He loved and cherished his eight grandchildren. Family and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Mass Wednesday, July 9, 2008, at The Church of St. Lawrence, Chester. Arrangements are under the direction of Scala Memorial Home, Hackettstown. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Atlantic Home Care and Hospice, 33 Bleeker St., Millburn, N.J. 07041. Published in the Star-Ledger on 7/7/2008.
The following obituary presents traits of Mr. Buschi that were unknown to most of us whom he taught.
Orville Buschi, 85, passionate teacher
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
BY GEORGE BERKIN
Star-Ledger Staff
When Orville Buschi led students from Summit High School on tours of Spain, much of the appeal lay in the sights and sounds.
For Mr. Buschi, it was the cafe con leche -- coffee with (hot) milk.
"That first cup of coffee was like he went home," said his wife,
Jennifer. "He couldn't wait to get there to have that."
A natty dresser, voracious reader and speaker of four languages, Mr. Buschi
taught French and Spanish at Summit High School for three decades, and led
students on nearly a dozen trips to Spain.
"He understood that learning took place by association and not in a
vacuum," said his son, Mark Buschi of Bethlehem, Pa. "In that way, he
was way ahead of his time."
A resident of Chester Township, Mr. Buschi, 85, died at home July 1. He had long battled a lung infection, and more recently, pneumonia, his wife said.
Born in Martins Creek, Pa., Mr. Buschi was the son of Italian immigrants, and spoke Italian before he spoke English.
Named Alvaro Donald Buschi at birth, Alvaro became Orville when his older
brother brought him to kindergarten and the language barrier produced a mix-up
in his name. He eventually went by Don.
Mr. Buschi was the middle child of 11 siblings -- with four sisters and a
brother older and four sisters and a brother younger.
His father worked in a cement mill, and the family lived on a farm, where they
raised chickens, made wine, and baked bread every Saturday, his wife said.
During World War II, he fixed aircraft radios for the Navy at a base in Patuxent River, Md.
After graduating from East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University with a bachelor's
degree in Spanish, French and modern European history, Mr. Buschi taught
briefly in Connecticut and Pennsylvania be fore coming to Summit in about 1960,
his wife said.
As a teacher, Mr. Buschi was a perfectionist.
He always wore a coat and tie. To teachers who failed to follow that example,
he would say, "Did you come to do the windows?," his wife said.
For students who balked at grammar, his wife added, "He would tell them,
'There are no irregular verbs in home economics.'"
Not that he was perfect. A pack- a-day smoker, Mr. Buschi often tried to quit.
In response, his stu dents would place a pack of cigarettes on his lectern, his
wife added.
Then there were the trips to Spain -- 11 trips over 20 years, through the
mid-1980s. On one occasion, while visiting a museum in Madrid, in walked Tony
Curtis -- but none of his students knew who the actor was.
During a trip in 1979, Mr. Buschi was walking through the Valley of the Fallen,
a war memorial outside Madrid, when he struck up a friendship with Jennifer
Borealo, a teacher 32 years his junior. They were married on April 2, 1983.
Mr. Buschi retired from teaching in 1988. After many years in Chester, he moved
to Warren County, but returned to Chester about two years ago.
A huge fan of the New York Giants and New York Mets, Mr. Buschi was a
passionate reader of The Star-Ledger's sports pages.
In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Buschi is survived by two other sons, Neil
of Buckingham, Pa., and Christian of Northampton, Pa.; his daughter, Faith of
Quakertown, Pa.; eight grandchildren; and two sisters, Lydia Ricci of
Harrisburg, Pa., and Mary De Palma of Roseto, Pa.
A memorial Mass will be held at 10 a.m. today at The Church of St. Lawrence in Chester. Arrangements are by the Scala Memorial Home, Hackettstown.