January 1
Jan H. Busch, O.S.A.
  1924-2001

January 1 is the anniversary of Jan H. Busch.

Jan Henricus Busch was born on August 26, 1924 of Arnold J. Busch and E.A. (Masion) Busch in Dordrecht, The Netherlands. He attended St. Antonius School in Dordrecht, and then the Gymnasium Augustinianum from 1936 to 1942. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine on September 9, 1942, professed first vows on September 10, 1943, and made solemn profession on September 12, 1946. From 1942 to 1949, he studied theology at seminaries of the Dutch Province, and was ordained to the priesthood on March 12, 1949, at Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

After his ordination Father Busch studied Chemistry at Villanova College (University), from 1949 to 1952, in preparation for teaching at a secondary school to be founded by the Dutch Augustinians in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He obtained a B.S. degree in chemistry from Villanova College in 1952 and, in 1954, an M.S. degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After having taught one year at Monsignor Bonner (Prendergast) High School, Father Busch taught for four years in the Colegio San Agustin in Boliva. In 1958, he was assigned to the Universidad Catolica de Santo Tomas de Villanueva, Havana, Cuba. The Castro revolution in January 1959 caused what was thought to be a temporary closing of the University. Then, when it was officially closed in 1961, Father Jan left Cuba and continued his teaching career at Saint Augustine High School in San Diego, California. A year later he was appointed as one of the first faculty members of Biscayne College (now Saint Thomas University) in Miami, Florida.

In 1972, he was transferred to Villanova College, where, in 1975, he obtained a doctorate in chemistry. Professor Jose R. de la Vega, with whom he had taught in Cuba, and who in 1961 had come to Villanova, directed his thesis entitled, Non-classical Behavior in Proton Exchange Reactions. The theme was to explain the fast rate of some reactions involving the movement of hydrogen nuclei in or between molecules.

In 1975, Father Busch joined the chemistry department at Villanova University. While teaching full time he continued to do research in the field of proton behavior, which led to publications in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. He was dedicated to this area of research and also a gifted professor. His college teaching career included chemistry, general physics, math, French and German. For many years on weekends he assisted at the parish of Saint Eleanor in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

Father Jan H. Busch, O.S.A., a member of the Province of Holland in The Netherlands, spent most of his religious priesthood with the Augustinians of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. Father died on January 1, 2001 at the health care unit of Saint Thomas Monastery, Villanova. Father Willem Saelman, O.S.A., representing the provincial of Holland, presided at the Mass of the Resurrection. Interment followed at the Augustinian plot in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

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Reflection (Anonymous):

We were poor in those days – not just by vow of poverty, but by what money was – or wasn’t – in the community accounts. Money from the Province sustained us. Jan Busch was our treasurer in those days at Casa San Lorenzo, Biscayne College. He did our shopping – very carefully. On Thursdays the Miami paper would carry ads on all sorts of sales at the local grocery stores. Jan would read through all that at breakfast, and make his plans for food shopping that afternoon. And on Thursdays the lay faculty at the college would come up to Jan, “Father, where’s the best place to get ham this week? Is there a special somewhere on fresh fruit? Anybody having a sale on Scotch?” “Scotch is on sale at Big Daddy’s,” he could tell them. “Ham is cheapest at such-and-such a grocery in North Miami Beach. For fruit try the WinnDixie in Hialeah – but bananas are cheaper down here on 27th Avenue.” He had it all memorized. Maybe after three or four languages and chemistry facts beyond number, a few grocery prices weren’t very hard. Maybe, too, after remembering where he’d and others had stored – hid – the university records in Castro’s Havana lest they be completely lost or, worse, used against the people that were with us there – after that, what’s a bottle of Scotch, a ham and a couple bananas? But Jan Busch amazed the faculty – and helped them out by telling them where they could find bargains on grocery day. They needed it, too; we Augustinians didn’t have much money there, but many others who worked at Biscayne in those days were not raking in any big bucks either. Jan’s good memory helped us all. It’s a nice thing now to remember him.