Busso "Buzz" Volker Lemme'

Busso Volker Lemmé was born June 25, 1937 in Stendhal, Germany. He was raised in Kalbe an der Milde, first during the Nazi regime and, after WWII, under the Soviet dominated East German Communist regime. He earned an apprenticeship in horticulture at age 17 after which he escaped to West Germany. Two years later, he gained free passage to Canada. With only 5 Marks in his pocket, the Salvation Army sheltered and guided him. In exchange for a year’s farm labor, he earned Canadian citizenship.

Working his way from Toronto to Kitimat, B.C., Canada, Busso took a job in the smelter at Alcan Aluminum Company. On a weekend trip to Seattle, he met Janette LaCross: they married 18 months later. After residing in Kitimat for two years, the couple moved to Seattle where Busso worked as the Seattle City Light substation landscape foreman. He simultaneously earned a degree in landscape architecture and established a side-business mowing lawns.

When amnesty was declared for all who had “exited East Germany illegally,” Busso traveled back to his hometown to introduce his bride of 3 years to his family. That trip led to a failed plan to help his sister escape. Busso served 8 months in Communist Hungary. He returned home to establish Evergreen Landscaping, Inc. He committed his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and, as his three children were born and business flourished, he did not doubt God’s hand on his life.

Busso’s love of travel never waned. In addition to some 25 trips to Germany, he visited 50 other countries and half of the United States. He made friends wherever he went, praising America and encouraging others to work hard and trust God. He was an Elder in the LFP Presbyterian Church, an active member of the LFP Rotary club, and a member of the Eagles and the Elks clubs.

Busso died November 8, 2021, at age 84 in the comfort of his home and the presence of his wife and family. He counted himself most blessed to have lived the American dream.

His passing is a huge loss the Lemmé family. We appreciate the outpouring of kind remembrances that friends have expressed. Thank you. Bless you.

Donations may be made in Busso’s name to:

The Salvation Army https://northwest.salvationarmy.org/

The American Diabetes Association https://diabetes.org/

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park https://www.lakeforestparkrotary.com/

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Busso’s Lemmé’s Biography – 1937-2021

By J. E. Lemmé

Busso Volker Lemmé was born June 25, 1937 in Stendhal, Germany. He was raised in Kalbe an der Milde, first during the Nazi regime and, after WWII, under the Soviet dominated East German Communist regime. As he was disallowed a college education, he opted for study in horticulture. At age 17 he completed the apprenticeship and quickly escaped to West Germany. With good credentials, he easily found work in the landscape field. Two years later, he jumped at the opportunity of free passage to Canada. Alone in a strange country, knowing no English and having just 5 Marks in his pocket, the Salvation Army sheltered and guided him for which he was ever grateful. In exchange for a year’s farm labor, he earned Canadian citizenship.

Working his way from Toronto to Kitimat, B.C., Busso took a job in the smelter at Alcan Aluminum Company. In 1960, he took advantage of a lay-off and drove with friends the thousand miles to Vancouver, B.C. One Saturday night, with a few tall buddies, he drove check out a dance in Seattle with the Tip Topper Club. Though it took him half the night to work up the courage to ask Janette to dance, Busso always declared for him it was love at first sight. Eighteen months later, they wed in Seattle and began a journey the same night to Canada where the roughed terrain of Kitimat set the stage for the next 60 years of adventure together.

The offer of a well-paying job--$400./month—lured the couple back to Seattle in 1963 where Busso earned a degree in landscape architecture. He also launched his own side-business mowing lawns and trimming hedges.

While he loved living in America, Busso never forgot his roots. When an amnesty was declared for all who had “exited the country illegally,” he took his bride of 3 years and suitcases full of gifts to his family in Kalbe. That first trip led to a promise, at his sister’s plaintive urging, to help her escape from East Germany. When his “foolproof” plan failed, eight months in a Communist Hungary’s prison multiplied his thanksgiving to return to the US and enjoy the freedoms America offered. In 1968 he received US citizenship.

That same year, the miracle of his first-born child, Christine, fortified a desire to be financially independent and provide security for his family. Having lost his job and his small business because of his “vacation in Hungary,” he poured himself into building Evergreen Landscaping, Inc. Good workmanship soon brought contracts with the City of Seattle, King County, Washington State, and even Juneau, Alaska. In later years, he scaled back to doing high-end residential—Innis Arden, Olympic Manor, The Highlands, and lots of volunteer work such as landscaping our church grounds.

As the demands of self-employment, marriage, and family weighed heavily on him, Busso accepted an invitation to a Christian seminar. Hearing anew that Jesus loves him, he publicly accepted Christ as Lord and made a personal sojourn to Israel to study and validate Biblical claims. He joined the Presbyterian church, taught Sunday school for several years, and led Bible studies in his home. The fervor of his evangelism was matched only by enthusiasm for his first love, travel, mostly to Germany to help his family in the East and visit loved ones in West Germany.

When the joy of sons Forrest and Sterling came in 1975 and 1979, he took his 3 children with him, teaching them more through travel than they could learn in school. His love of life and freedom, his gratitude for God’s guidance, and his appreciation for the opportunities America afforded him exuded into all he did. With a unique, spontaneous, and flirtatious sense of humor, Busso’s joi-de-vivre was contagious. His sometimes-undiplomatic remarks brought challenges, but the fun-loving intent prevailed.

Busso was a born entertainer, but he also had an intellectual curiosity that pursued history, geography, and politics. He warned people about the dangers of political correctness before it was a byword. He warned about government intrusion and signs that urged one to report one’s neighbor. He loved to study maps and travel brochures. Classical music entranced him along with opera, Western, pop ballads, Dixieland and Traditional jazz, all but heavy metal!

For many years, business and family life was all-consuming, so concerts and entertainment fell by the wayside. Busso served as President of the American Landscape Designers and Contractors and was an Elder at Lake Forest Park Presbyterian Church. Building our house was additionally demanding. When it was complete, Busso dedicated himself to planting and tending an amazing garden that made our home a floral oasis.

When his beloved sister took her own life in 1985, a depression enveloped Busso that seemed interminable even with medication. Consoled in that first grim period only by long drives alone listening to Beethoven, it was a dark couple of years compounded by a diagnosis of diabetes. As he struggled to overcome both depression and his precarious disease, he chanced one evening into the Conway Tavern. A pretty singer and lively jazz music spoke to his spirit. The mood meds were tossed, and decades of jazz festivals kept him dancing with Janette and friends. The agony of Birke’s death left a permanent mark of sorrow on Busso and his family, but music and faith reinvigorated his quest to live life to the fullest. As both sons played basketball, he became their self-appointed cheer leader at the games. To their embarrassment, he delighted, literally, in trumpeting their scores—Now both men want that trumpet!

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989—"Remember, remember the 9th of November!” felt like a personal victory. Busso celebrated by flying to Berlin and hacking out a chunk of the wall himself. He displayed it at his home in testimony to the superiority and liberty of capitalism in protecting individual creativity and dignity. Next to the freedoms of movement and speech, he valued most the freedom of association. By the invitation of neighbors, he enthusiastically joined the Rotary Club of LFP serving as International Director for years. Many of his most memorable trips were with Rotary friends to Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, India, and Nepal. He also joined the Elks and the Eagles, mainly for their dance bands and good dance floors, as well as for the charitable work they do.

Between landscape contracts and jazz festivals, Busso ventured to Africa, where he helped administer polio drops; India, where he supported 3 orphans for many years; China with a City of Seattle Mayoral Delegation; Iraq with Doctors without Borders; and to some 45 more countries as well as half of the United States. Making new friends wherever he went, he was a faithful correspondent to many. Our Christmas card list kept getting longer but hearing from people all over the world was and is always a joy.

Busso Volker Lemmé lived the American dream. He died at 84 in the comfort of his home and the presence of his wife and family. He counted himself most blessed, not only to have enjoyed 60 years with the woman he loved, but to also relish the love of his three children, their dear spouses, and our four precious grandchildren. His passing is a huge loss the Lemmé family. He was a courageous, dynamic, and charismatic man who loved the Lord, his family and friends, travel and adventure, work - especially in his own garden, music and dancing, good food—actually, any-and-all food! —and action movies. He was a remarkable husband and father, especially given that he had little role modeling in his childhood, and a great provider and vigorous leader of his family. We all miss him more than words cans express.

We appreciate the outpouring of kind remembrances that friends have expressed. Thank you. Bless you.

Busso loved a good party: his celebration life is planned for June 12th.

Donations may be made in Busso’s name to:

The Salvation Army https://northwest.salvationarmy.org/

The American Diabetes Association https://diabetes.org/

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park https://www.lakeforestparkrotary.com/