Lloyd Bushbee

Lloyd Busbee, a Lab retiree who was a Pearl Harbor survivor and a 20-year Navy veteran, died June 6. He was 97.

Born Oct. 9, 1914 in Bagdad, Fla. where he grew up, he worked for a time on his father’s barge on the Pensacola water ways. At 21, he joined the U.S. Navy. He met his wife to be, Margie in Portland, Ore. during Fleet Week.

Busbee‘s first duty station was on the Navy cruiser USS Chicago. He was then attached to several Navy Patrol Squadrons (VP-24, VP-14 & VP-71 Honolulu T.H.) following the attack on Hawaii and throughout the Pacific War. With the war coming to a close, he was transferred back to the mainland at San Diego where he rejoined his wife.

Many duty stations followed such as Corpus Christi, Texas, Pensacola Fla., Panama Canal Zone, Patuxent River, Md. , Memphis Tenn., Alameda, Calif., and finally Moffett Field, Calif. where he retired after his much traveled career with 20 years of service in 1955.

Upon retiring from the Navy, he moved his family to Livermore in 1955. He worked at the Lab for 24 years in the Electronics Engineering Department’s Fusion Energy Systems Division, from September 1955 to retirement in December 1979.

His love and respect for military personnel never diminished. He erected a flagpole and raised the flag daily. In 2002, a Navy ensign that had been flown in his honor off the USS Tarawa was presented to him by the ship’s officers and crew. This flag joined his flag each morning. This tradition was held by him even very late into his 97th year.

Busbee enjoyed the outdoors, golf and long walks. He managed to transition on his own from a small manual typewriter to a computer.

After the Navy years, travel held little interest with the exception of Hawaii where he enjoyed traveling with his wife.

He is preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Margie.

Busbee is survived by his three children, Cheryl Field, Kathy Newland and Roger Busbee; three grandchildren, Seana, Iain and Michael; and five great grandchildren, Ben, Dylan, Morgan, Lily and Kyla.

Private family services will be held.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Busbee’s name to the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. where he is a member of the commemorative plaque wall.