Richard Buss

PIERCE -- Services for Richard "Rick" R. Buss, 43, of Lincoln will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Zion Lutheran Church in Pierce. The Rev. Gordon Bruce will officiate. Services also will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the First Plymouth Church, 2000 D St., in Lincoln. The Rev. Kathryn Campbell will officiate. A private graveside service will be conducted at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Lincoln. Stonacek Memorial Chapel in Pierce is in charge of arrangements. He died Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010, at Bryan LGH in Lincoln. Richard "Rick" Ray Buss was born May 6, 1967, at Norfolk to Donald L. Buss and Janice J. Froehlich Buss Koehler. He was baptized on June 4, 1967, at the Zion Lutheran Church in Pierce by the Rev. Walter Buss. He was confirmed there on April 12, 1981, by the Rev. Buss. His confirmation verse was Psalm 55:22: "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." He attended the Zion Lutheran Parochial School in Pierce from kindergarten through eighth grade. He graduated with the class of 1985 from Pierce High School. During high school, Rick was a member of the Zion Youth Group and Pierce High Band and participated in football, basketball and track at Pierce High and played baseball with the City of Pierce program. Through high school and college, 1984-1989, he worked in the mailing room of the Norfolk Daily News. Rick married Sue Jean Booth at Zion Lutheran Church in Creighton on June 11, 1988. Rick graduated from Wayne State College in May 1989, gaining a bachelor's of science degree in mathematics and computer science. Following graduation, he began employment with the Ameritas Life Insurance Corporation in Lincoln as a programmer/trainee. Because of the quality of his work, Rick steadily worked his way up to project manager in 2001 and then IT manager in 2006. He was then transitioned to business systems architect in 2009 with the offices in Lincoln and Cincinnati, Ohio. Rick served faithfully at Ameritas for 22 years, all of which he spent with its Retirement Plans IT Division. During that time, he earned the utmost respect from his fellow associates for his dedication to Ameritas. Rick cared deeply about his company and the associates with whom he worked. His advice and guidance will be greatly missed, but most of all his friendship. Rick was the business systems architect, supporting not only the retirement plans business division but also the investment business division as well. Rick was responsible for the architecture of both of those business units to ensure that all technology used to support them was exactly what the businesses wanted and contributed to the revenue growth of those units. Rick had the highly desirable skills of not only knowing technology, but he understood the retirement plans and investment businesses extremely well. This made him a highly sought-after person, not only for technology guidance but for business solutions as well. That is why he was always in a lot of meetings. Rick was always pulled in many directions and he really enjoyed the challenges. He really cared about his responsibilities and wanted to make sure he was in all of the "action." He also served as a planning analyst, which required him to meet constantly with the business units to determine what projects they wanted throughout the year and when. He then had to work with technology staffing managers to determine what staff would be assigned to which projects and then ensure the right projects were being worked on by the right people and delivered at the right time. Rick's work in the planning aspects of his job exceeded expectations and he was informed of that last month. Rick was a passionate, loving, caring gentleman as a husband, son, brother, uncle, nephew and in-law, always there to unselfishly assist others in every aspect of their lives. He had an intense love of computer technology, sharing his knowledge, as well as collecting art and music; traveling to 18 European countries and throughout the United States; entertaining friends and family; and taking a great pride in his flowers and yard work. He played with the Wayne State Band throughout college and performed with the Brass Quartet group. Rick served as past president of the Friends of the State of Nebraska Historical Museum in Lincoln. Rick was also very much into the various Ameritas-sponsored athletic activities of the company. He was in the Par 3 Golf, softball and bowling leagues and on the co-ed volleyball and men's volleyball teams. Rick also volunteered for various activities at Ameritas, such as serving as a volunteer for the 2010 Special Olympics in Lincoln. He was a member of the Zion Lutheran Church at Pierce. Survivors include his wife, Sue Buss, of 22 years, his parents, Janice and Donavon Koehler of Pierce; sister Jennifer Buss Baumann and husband Jared and their children, Parker and Maiya Baumann, all of Pierce; grandmothers Vivian Buss of Norfolk and Darlene Froehlich of Pierce and special friend Ewald Gehm of Pierce; mother-in-law Janet Booth of Creighton; sister-in law Lori and husband Scott Heaton and son Zachary of Ponca; nieces Hillary Heaton of Omaha and Brittany Heaton of Lincoln; Also stepsisters Debra and Brian Zautke of Pierce and Peggy and Kevin Werts of Lincoln; stepnephews Bryce and Blake of Lincoln; stepnieces Lindsay Zautke of Omaha, Anthony and Meagan Fehringer of Norfolk and Brooke Zautke of Pierce; his pet cats, Maxwell and Gracie; and a multitude of aunts, uncles, cousins, co-workers, family and friends.\r\nHe was preceded in death by his father, Donald L. Buss, on Oct. 13, 1974; grandfathers Raymond Buss on Jan. 5, 1983, and Leon Froehlich on May 11, 1998; father-in law Duane Booth on Aug. 3, 2006, aunt Joyce Krueger on July 31, 1989; his wife's grandparents, Loyal and Grace Hull; and stepgrandparents Aaron and Delores Koehler. Organist at the service in Pierce will be Dottie Ahlers. The congregational hymn will be "Now Thank We All Our God." The soloist will be Margret Jenkins who will sing "I Can Only Imagine" and "Come to Jesus." Casket bearers at both services will be Chris Krueger, Casey Krueger, Brian Zautke, Kevin Werts, Reggie Bosn, Ryan Bosn, James Froehlich, Tom Buss, Tim Buss, Scott Stevens, Ron Price, Ted Durant, Bob Reeker, Kevin Thierolf and Geoff Michaelson.

Tributes

Richard Buss

May 6, 1967 - December 9, 2010