Ross Sturtz Maurice

The son of a miner, Buddy was born in 1935 in the coal town of McComas, West Virginia. When he was a child, his parents moved the family with seven children to Norfolk, Virginia, in search of better work and life.

Growing up in poverty, Buddy left school early to begin earning money, finding he had a talent for fixing cars. He spent his life repairing and fixing everything that needed attention—cars, trucks, houses, church buses, stray animals, and stray people.

When he was 19, he met Gay at Gay's Lite Lunch in Norfolk when she was only 16. Only on their first date did she see him without the grease and dirt that came with being a mechanic at the time. Their first date was to the movies, which they didn't see because they talked the whole time. They were married for 65 years and had three children together.

Buddy worked as a mechanic during the day and moonlighted at night in a garage behind their house, repairing friends' cars. When he had saved enough money, he opened Buddy's Used Auto Parts in Chesapeake, which he painted "big bad green," the brightest and most eye-popping green available. For 30 years, he worked at the shop six days a week in the sweltering heat and frigid cold, often late into the night. When he sold the shop in 1998, he had amassed 2,500 junk cars that he salvaged for parts, keeping the entire inventory and vehicle locations in his head.

Until his health made it impossible, Buddy was active in his church. He served as a deacon and led Sunday school classes and youth groups. He and Gay often hosted theme parties for church groups. Always the first to volunteer for any job, he acquired and fixed up the church bus, painting it, of course, big bad green. He often drove the bus himself, picking up kids for Sunday school.

Optimistic to the bone, Buddy wanted everyone to be happy and did everything he could to make people smile and laugh, even when he was the butt of his own jokes. He always wore button-up shirts and hated t-shirts. But every Sunday afternoon for months, he wore a ridiculous bright red t-shirt with an enormous yellow smiley face on the chest because his children gave it to him for Father's Day.

Buddy had a generous spirit and was incapable of leaving something broken or out of place. He returned late one night after dinner at his daughter and son-in-law's house to put a brick into a plant on their front porch that kept falling over in the wind. During an Easter celebration at his mother's house, he and his brothers spent the afternoon disassembling a Thunderbird when someone mentioned a malfunctioning light. He bought bicycles in bulk from police auctions to fix up and give away. He adopted stray cats and washed-out police dogs.

He taught his children through his actions more than through his words. He taught them that hard work, no matter how humble, is important and that they should strive to be helpful. He taught them to try to do things for themselves, even if they got it wrong, because with patience, you could always do a job again—and again—to make it right. He taught them not to be afraid to tear something apart to fix it.

Buddy was quick to laughter and quick to tears. He loved movie theater popcorn and Heath bars, old cars and fast cars, dogs of all sizes and feral cats. He enjoyed Lawrence Welk, Andy Williams, and Hee-Haw. He loved to sing hymns and classic songs. He took dance lessons with Gay at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio and voice lessons with his daughter. He took his family camping in tents and then in a Winnebago. For a while, there was a small boat and unsuccessful attempts at fishing, which was fine because Buddy hated fish anyway.

After years of hard work, Buddy’s health began to fail. He was a resident at Lake Taylor Transitional Care Facility in Norfolk, where he got into trouble for collecting the residents' meal trays. Even in a wheelchair, he wanted to do his part to help.

Buddy leaves behind his wife, Gay Maurice, three children, Chris Layton Maurice and his wife Cynthia Maurice of Raphine, VA; Robin Maurice Wedewer and her husband Harry Wedewer of Huntingtown, MD, and Dale Ross Maurice and his wife Carol Maurice of Virginia Beach, VA; and grandchildren Kimberly Maurice Newton, Benjamin Ross Wedewer, Hunter Lund Maurice, Blake Harris Maurice, Sarah Suzanne Maurice, and Daniel Keegan Maurice, predeceased by Katherine Elizabeth Maurice and Bradley Alexander Maurice. He also leaves two great-grandchildren, Hazel Rose Newton and Harlow James Newton.

The family will receive friends from 6-8:00 PM, on Monday, July 24, 2023 at Rosewood-Kellum Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at the funeral home. Interment will follow in Rosewood Memorial Park.