Robert L. Buser, 90, died peacefully on November 13, 2018. Bob was born in Waveland IN on June 26, 1928 to Lee Roy and Lucile Buser. He married Margaret Louise Booher on August 5, 1951. She survives. Also surviving are son Joe (Gretchen) Buser, granddaughters Megan and Emma of Crawfordsville IN, and daughter Ann Buser of Frankfort IN. He was predeceased by cousin Donald (Nancy) Ewbank of Jackson TN.
A proud Hoosier, Bob graduated from New Market High School in 1946 and Wabash College (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1950. He served in the United States Air Force as an instructor in weather observation. After his stint in the military he was a teacher and principal in Pendleton and Covington IN, respectively. Bob continued his education, completing a master’s degree at Indiana State University and doctorate at Indiana University. He also served as principal of the Indiana University High School Laboratory School in Bloomington. At a time when funding was plentiful and public education a top priority in the United States, Bob had the privilege of working for the State Department developing materials for evaluating curricular programs and recognizing premier schools and curricula across the nation.
Bob was a professor at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale IL from 1968 until retirement in 1995. This position allowed for flexibility in continuing to teach and mentor graduate students with many opportunities for consulting and writing. A pioneer in the study of school evaluation, Bob was Director of the National Study of School Evaluation, headquartered at the NSSE in Reston, VA. Authoring the Evaluative Criteria, a publication used for decades by almost all accredited public schools in the United States and United States military bases throughout the world, was one professional highlight. This position required extensive travel and opportunities to work with sensational colleagues and educators with whom he enjoyed lifelong friendships.
During his long professional career, Bob’s most meaningful experiences, by far, continued to be working one-on-one with students. With awards, memberships, and activities too numerous to mention, and some long-forgotten, a few stand out. Summers spent teaching in Plattsburgh NY became a tradition. He was named as one of the nation’s Top 100 Curriculum Directors. He was selected as one of five Phi Delta Kappa Senior Leaders in Education educators of the century (in wonderful company with Indiana University’s Chancellor Herman B. Wells and University of Notre Dame’s President Emeritus Father Theodore M. Hesburgh). In retirement, Bob became one of Illinois’ first school safety consultants focusing on the issues of school shootings and gun violence.
Bob enjoyed his professional life, but above all: family and friends were MOST cherished. The Buser household, with Bob at the helm, celebrated abiding faith, abundant laughter, high expectations, discipline, old fashioned hard work, and zest for life. Those values endure.
In 2015, after 48 years in Carbondale IL, Bob and Meg landed “back home again in Indiana” to be close to their children. Private graveside services at a small hillside cemetery known as “Indian Creek” in Montgomery County will mark Bob’s final earthly resting place.
Visitation for Bob will be held on Tuesday, November 20 from 2:00-4:00 pm at Hunt and Son Funeral Home in Crawfordsville IN. A celebration-of-life service will be held later at the First United Methodist Church in Carbondale IL, where Bob and Margaret have maintained membership for more than 50 years.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to South Montgomery High School Dollars for Scholars (℅ Eric Brewer, PO Box 805, Crawfordsville, IN 47933) or to the First United Methodist Church of Carbondale (214 W. Main Street, Carbondale, IL 62901).