Angela Bussey

To truly pay tribute to Angie Bussey, it’s important you know just a little bit about the woman that we knew. “Come, sit, and let’s have something cold to drink”, she would say, always anxious to hear all about the goings on in life. The kindest and most generous woman, whether with her time or anything else you may need, if she had it to give, you only had to ask. She used to say the highest compliment anyone could give her was to feel comfortable enough in her home that they wouldn’t hesitate to simply get up, go to the kitchen and help themselves.

Born, December 25, 1946, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, she was the daughter of Lester V. Forbes and Louise Peck Forbes. She was the oldest of eight children - (In order from oldest to youngest: Angie, Eileen, Steve, Rich, Maryellen, Paul, Doug and John) - and over the years the brothers and sisters would take “stair step” pictures to mark the passing of time. Once the tallest of the bunch, they all eventually surpassed her.

She graduated from Fairfield High School with the class of ‘65 and attended University of Iowa for two years. She married her high school sweetheart, Bruce Bussey on September 14, 1968, and the newlyweds moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota where she worked for Streator Industries and Nave Hospital. After their daughters, (Erin Bussey Horvat and Andrea Bussey) were born, the family moved back to Fairfield, Iowa, to be closer to the grandparents.

Angie was a legal secretary for the next 30+ years for Foss, Kuiken, and Gookin in Fairfield and then for the Nyemaster Law Firm in Des Moines after they moved to the “big city” in 1991. Her skill in the legal language of short-hand was unmatched and, occasionally she would confuse her family with notes they could not decipher!

When her girls were little and money was tight, she was a master in the art of making hors d’oeuvres using saltine crackers and anything else that could be found in the kitchen. She served them to her daughters in the elaborate blanket forts they would make on the front porch of their lovely old Victorian home on East Burlington Street in Fairfield.

She loved to make any holiday festive and took pride in decorating a pretty table, complete with the fine china, always adorning your place setting with one of her napkin rings hand-selected just for you from an extensive collection. Even Martha Stewart would approve! She was a voracious reader and couldn’t wait to get her hands on the newest Robert Ludlum or Dean Koontz novel! One of her favorite things to do on a weekend afternoon was sit with her book outside in the cool breeze under the shade of the big trees in their yard in Urbandale. She also loved history and took pride in authoring a historical book of her own, using the letters her father had written to her mother during World War II when he served as an Army cryptographer.

After retiring, she and Bruce moved to St. George, Utah, where the sun shines all the time and enjoyed traveling the west...a dream they’d had since from early on in their marriage. Before her illness took hold, the family loved to camp and hike in the mountains, especially in Colorado where they vacationed each summer when the girls were young. She loved to travel with her family and took great pleasure in learning the history of a place and its’ people.

In July of 2022, she moved to the Legacy Village Assisted Living facility in St. George, Utah and was excited because for the first time in her 75 years, she would have her own apartment! What an adventure it would be! She delighted in the simple task of selecting her towels and shower curtain. In fact, when anything was new or possibly scary to her girls, she helped them put on a brave face by reminding them, “it’s a new adventure”!

Angie Bussey embarked on her next “adventure”, crossing the bridge to heaven on November 20, 2022.

In lieu of a memorial Angie’s family asks that friends and family donate to the charity of their choice. Bruce and their daughters will be planning a celebration of life for Angie in the spring of ’23 in their hometown of Fairfield, Iowa. Date, time and place to be determined.