Mrs. Essie Buskey a longtime Montgomery educator died of a heart attack on Thursday evening August 16, 2007. She was returning to Montgomery after a biopsy for cancer when a blood clot caused her to suffer a heart attack. The news of Mrs. Buskey’s untimely passing spread throughout the State of Alabama rapidly. 

People from all walks of life will unite not only because of our desire to pay respects to Mrs. Buskey but rather in our need to do so. Like the sun, Mrs. Buskey bathed us in her warm glow. She was the essence of compassion. She was a symbol of selfless humanity. She possessed strength and dignity. She lived life to the fullest. She gave of herself so readily and openly. 

I met Mrs. Buskey more than twenty years ago while attending First Congregational Church of Christ on the corner of High Street and Union Street in Montgomery, Alabama. Mrs. Buskey was walking with her husband the late Representative John Buskey when he introduced me to her. From that moment on I realized that I had met an extraordinary person.  

This extraordinary woman tried to engender into all she met a social conscience. She made us realize that there were wrongs that needed our attention especially in the field of education. There were schools that were less than adequate and needed our help. And we have a responsibility to better those schools. Through no virtues of our own, many of us have been fortunate enough to attend some of the best schools in the world. We, therefore, have a responsibility to others who are less well off. 

There are two people in Montgomery that I feel a huge debt of gratitude, a debt so large that it would be impossible for me to repay, one is Representative Alvin Holmes and the other is the late Mrs. Essie Buskey. This debt was created when they assisted me in my time of need with no expectation of anything in return. 

Mrs. Buskey was always willing to help others. Mrs. Buskey’s strength as a person was seen best through the remarkable quality of how she interacted with other people. She had the unique ability to make everyone that knew her feel both special and personal. Many people reading this article probably felt as though Mrs. Buskey was their best friend.  She had a faith that told her, as it tells us all, that even Jesus came into the world as a servant, not as a master. Mrs. Buskey was the pillar of her Church. 

I will treasure the memories of blowing at Mrs. Buskey as she drove down the streets of Montgomery. I will treasure the memories of running into her at the grocery store, or the Capital City Club. I will treasure the memories of her beautiful laugh that bent her double. I will treasure the memories of her boundless energy.  

Many have done excellently, but Mrs. Buskey exceeded them all. I hope that our caring will somehow lessen the sorrow that the family now bears. There is lonesomeness after the death of one’s mother, but I want Janet and Susan to know that your friends are thinking of you and sympathizing with you in this time of your great loss.

In the words of my dad: “Stay away from the pig ears and fried pork chops.  Eat more fruits and vegetables.”

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com or write to him at P.O. Box 250194 Montgomery, Alabama 36125-0194.