Anita Buss

Anita, a cradle Catholic, enjoyed a long and modest life, was educated in the convent school in Hallettsville, grew up as the child of German farmers, and married her sweetheart Everett Victor Buss, also reared in Hallettsville, who preceded her in death in 2002. This year would have been their 68th wedding anniversary.

She was born on April 18, 1920 in Hallettsville, Lavaca County to Herman Frank Grahmann and Ada Marie Leopold Grahmann. She attended Sacred Heart School. Anita’s teenage years were busy with hard work. In addition to doing chores on the family farm, she worked outside the home during her teen years to help supplement the family income in the economically difficult years of the 1930s.

She married on July 19, 1939 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in her hometown of Hallettsville, and moved to Baytown when Humble Oil and Refinery employed her husband in 1941. Like many others of her generation, she kept the home fires burning by subsisting on a small Victory Garden for fresh vegetables and ration books for shoes, gasoline and grocery items while her husband served in World War II, and she cared for her small son Everett Leon. Mrs. Buss was a selfless woman who followed Churchill’s words regarding the War years, “They also serve who wait.”

Along with her husband she was a founding member of St. Jude Catholic Church in Highlands, which held masses in the home of Katy Parker on South Main Street, prior to construction of the first church building. Anita was a member of the Altar and Rosary Society, and worked with the youth group. As a homemaker, she helped raise a big garden, can the vegetables, and put up pickles for use during the year. She was an extremely talented seamstress, making school and church clothes for her children. Anita made sure her family attended “First Fridays” at church even when vacationing, as well as regular observance of Holy Days, Lenten fasting, mission attendance and was a faithful Sunday communicant.

She studied art with Peggy Tieman of Highlands, was gifted in oil painting, and was a member of the Art League of Baytown.

After retirement, she and her husband traveled the U. S. in the motor home where she always delighted in each new friend she made along the way.

Anita’s life exemplifies St. Paul’s words to Timothy, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Everett Leon Buss and Sherry Black, of Crestone, CO; son and daughter-in-law Jim and Eve Buss of Baytown; daughter and son-in-law, Kay and Terrell Nelson, of Baytown; grandsons, Rance Buss and wife Cheryl of Houston, Clint Buss of Baytown, and Shane Buss of Dallas; granddaughter, Kayla Nelson of Baytown; great grandchildren, Parker and Sarah Buss of Houston; one sister and brother-in-law, Leona and Gene Harvey of Baytown; and brother and sister-in-law, Frank and Ruth Grahmann of Conroe.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Everett V. Buss; parents, Herman and Ada Grahmann; granddaughter, Vanessa Buss; brother, Leonard H. Grahmann and sister-in-law Lillie Grahmann; sister, Ann Davis and brother-in-law Cecil Davis; brother-in-law, Johnny Goodney; and infant sister, Lillie Marie.

The family will receive friends at Navarre Funeral Home from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Tuesday evening, with a rosary beginning at 7:00 p.m. The funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 2, 2007 at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church, 800 South Main, Highlands, TX. Interment will follow at Sterling-White Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Rance Buss, Clint Buss, Shane Buss, Terrell Nelson, David Goodney, and John Goodney.

The family extends its appreciation to caregivers Victoria Alfaro and Jewel Mullins for their kindness to their mother.

Arrangements are under the direction of Navarre Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 2444 Rollingbrook Dr., Baytown, TX, 77521, (281) 422-8111.