Jimmy Lee Busby went to be with his Lord and Savior Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at the Waco Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Waco, Texas.
VISITATION: 6pm to 8pm Monday, June 12th at Lake Shore Funeral Home, Waco, Texas
GRAVESIDE SERVICE: 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 13th at Mart Cemetery, Mart, Texas
Jimmy was born in Waco, Texas to Garnett and J.C. Busby January 31, 1943. From his early years, he loved music and even played the drums in a band. He also enjoyed cars, including a particular 1958 Chevrolet he souped up to be the fastest car around at the time that saw many a times on the “drag” in Mart, Texas. When he was 20 years old, he met Ella Jane Cox, whom he was married to for 48 years until she passed in 2011 after a long battle with breast cancer. Jimmy was a very active member of Williams Creek Baptist Church, and served as a Sunday School teacher and Church Deacon. He loved being a grandfather and taking his grandchildren on trips, spending weekends with his family cooking hotdogs out on the fire, eating homemade ice cream, and taking the grandkids on lawn mower rides around the pond!
Jimmy was very dedicated to his career endeavors, which included working for A.O. Smith, City of Waco (surveyor), Purvis Bearing, Reed American Products, Reed American Pro Lift, Inc. before joining the Texas Department of Transportation in Waco as Safety Inspector where he spent over 26 years.
In 2012, Jimmy met Pam Gassaway. They enjoyed many pastimes together, including their mutual love for riding motorcycles. Pam brought much joy into his life, and they were married on February 23, 2013. In 2017, Jimmy sadly fell ill with Alzheimer’s at the age of 76.
He is preceded in death by his mother and father, Garnett and J.C. Busby; first wife, Ella Jane Busby; daughter, Jennifer Kimball; and great-grandson, Michael Morgan.
He is survived by his wife, Pam Busby; children, Jason Busby and wife Anna, Jackie Busby and JoAnn Chapin and her husband, Kenneth; step-children, Dana Eastwood, Erika Kunkel and husband Kurt, and Shawn Eastwood and wife Jenni; brother, Roger Busby and wife Connie; grandchildren, Amanda, Amy, Cole, Paige, Ken, Wil, Jacob, April, Rachel, Kiersten, Koen, Makenna, Mace and Sloane; and many nephews, nieces, cousins, and great-grandchildren. He will be deeply missed.
Pallbearers will be Jacob, Ken, Wil Chapin, Cole Kimball, Bryant Coleman, and Corey Pharris.
Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
Print Obituary & Condolences
Mr. Jimmy will be missed dearly. He was one of the sweetest patients our team had the privilege of caring for. Pamela and family, you all remain in our prayers.
Prayers for the family. Jimmy was the best trombone player ever in the Mart high Panther Band. H and Herbert Cleere were the brass section . Jimmy was a talented artist as well. He could pinstripe a car with the best of them. Hw always seemed to be in a good mood. Rest easy my classmate, MHS 1961
Charles Holland
Jason and Anna.
Please except Sara and my sincere condolences in this time of sorrow.
Special thanks to Amedysis Hospice and his caregivers. They have treated Papaw as one of their own from day one. Loving, compassionate nursing was just what he needed. Thank you!
Our deepest sympathy to all of Safety Jim’s family. He was one of a kind and made safery at TxDOT a priority for us other “safety folks” together.
May God bring you peace & comfort during this difficult time.
Our love, prayers, & deepest sympathy to all.
Enjoyed working with Jim at TxDot, he was a good man, always helpful. Prayers for comfort for the family.
Jim was not only a great friend, he was a mentor to every safety officer at TxDOT. He was our rock in building a safer workplace throughout the great State of Texas.
I will miss Jim so much! He played such an inspirational role to so many people at TXDOT for so long! He was definitely one of my mentors. He always had a joke to make us all laugh or awesome stories to tell! He was an amazing man!!!! I am so sorry for all of y’all’s loss…. Big hugs to all!
Love, Cassidy Bruce
I knew Jimmy as “Papaw.”
But he was more to me than that. I’m proud to say I was his first grandchild, his first grandson. My sister Paige and I spent many nights and weekends there with him and my Mamaw. We went to Sunday School with them, played at their house constantly, and did everything you’d expect kids to do with their grandparents.
We also spent some time living under their roof. Papaw was an important member of a small collection of father figures I had growing up. I’ll never forget the long-distance road trips. The beach. The museums. NASA. Planting that tree I got at school for Earth Day by the tank. The motorcycle rides. My first computer. Picking dewberries by the fence. Building model rockets and airplanes. Driving that red Snapper lawn mower across the yard, eventually being trusted to actually mow with it! –followed by that feeling of unbridled horror when I ran it into a tree! The marathon video game and flight simulator sessions. Him teaching me how to play drums, then buying me my first drum kit once he saw I knew how. That last bit I’ve actually managed to pass on to my own boy, Ethan Cole (partially named after me and after Papaw’s dad, JC).
Out of all that, there’s one thing I’ll miss more than all of it. One talent of his I could never replicate: His stories. Whether it be old high-school car-chase hijinks, a wild yarn about an oil rig mishap in the North Atlantic, or just some anecdote about taking out out the trash everyday at Purvis Bearing, nobody could tell a tale like him. It was always the kind of story that made you wonder whether any of it was actually true, but was also so well-told you just didn’t care.
Condolences and prayers of comfort for the family. I knew him through our shared safety professions. He as was man of great dedication to his faith, foremost, his family and his work. May God’s blessings bring you peace.
Jimmy Lee and I were classmates from first grade. He was also my first “ boy friend” in elementary school. He was smart, caring, witty and funny. I will always remember him fondly. So many special memories of growing up together in Mart. Peace and blessings to his family.
Jim and I worked together at Purvis Bearing for several years. Prayers for the family.