Busbys celebrate 50 years with their best friend

SEELEY LAKE – While serving on a Naval ship in Vietnam, Larry Busby received a letter from a Californian woman he had never met.

"It was something to receive that kind of a letter from Gwen," said Larry who was from Oklahoma. "All the guys were envious. I was walking in tall cotton."

Larry followed the instructions in the letter that said, "Remember where you were when you open the letter so when you return, you can tell me." Upon his return to the states a few months later, he met Gwen. They were married after dating for a year and are still married today, 50 years later.

"We were best friends right off the bat. We could just talk about anything with each other," Gwen said. "Being good friends to begin with makes a really good basis for longevity for a marriage."

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Larry served in the U.S. Navy from 1966 – 1970. Larry's name was on a list of servicemen that was given to the College Career Youth Group at La Habra Christian Church in La Habra Heights, California. Members of the group were asked to choose a name and write them a letter. Gwen, who was part of the group, chose Larry's name "because it looked like a nice name."

They first met at a College Career Bible study about pacifism.

"I liked what I saw so I asked her for a date as soon as possible," Larry said. "We hit it off."

Gwen remembers the night well. The irony of a group of college-career aged young adults discussing pacifism while Larry was still active in the Navy did not escape her. Following the study, Larry followed her out to her car and said a pickup line she will never forget.

"'It looked like you were crying in there. Are you ok?'" Gwen said and rolled her eyes while smiling. "Of course I wasn't crying and I thought 'oh man.' But it worked."

Their first official date was to a Billy Graham Crusade at the Anaheim Convention Center. They quickly realized they had similar backgrounds and values from both growing up in the church and a strong belief in God.

They got married on Thanksgiving weekend Sunday, Nov. 29, 1970. They had a big wedding at the La Habra Christian Church with family from several states and their entire Youth Group invited.

Even though Gwen was from California, neither of them liked living there. They made plans to move to Phoenix, Arizona.

"It was a big town with lots of jobs, no problem with work," said Larry.

The catalyst for their move was the San Fernando Earthquake on Feb. 9, 1971.

Gwen remembers being thrown out of bed at 6 a.m. when the 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit. The kitchen cabinets all opened and the dishes came down.

In the days following the earthquake, Gwen drove to work through the looting and damage in downtown Los Angeles. While working for the Los Angeles Police Department on the fifth floor of the Parker Center, her office chair would slide around as the building would move with the aftershocks.

"My Okie husband said 'We are outta here,'" Gwen said.

Three months later they moved to Phoenix. Larry worked as a pest control officer and Dart Industries hired Gwen. After a couple years they moved to Payson, Arizona to get into the mountains.

When Gwen was pregnant with their son Lee, Arizona State Parks hired Larry as a Park Ranger. He started working along the Colorado River at what would soon be the new Lake Havasu State Park.

"He got his wish," Gwen said. "When he was a kid he wanted to be a park ranger and the Lord made him a park ranger all his life."

Gwen moved in with family in Phoenix to be closer to the hospital and Larry lived in a tent at the new State Park until Lee was born in 1973.

Lee was born with dislocated hips. He went directly to Crippled Children's Hospital after being discharged from Good Samaritan Hospital. He was the youngest baby that had ever been admitted to Crippled Children's Hospital.

He spent several weeks in traction to align his femurs with his hip joints. When he was discharged he wore a brace to keep his legs in the right position.

Following Lee's birth, the Busbys purchased a mobile home and lived at the State Park. They would drive back to Phoenix every two weeks for Lee's appointments. Lee later struggled with speech issues and faced cognitive challenges. Gwen said they never knew if the birth defects were due to Agent Orange.

Larry became a law enforcement officer working with the Arizona State Parks. He also offered assistance to Arizona Game and Fish and the Mohave County Sheriff's Office when needed. He and Gwen welcomed a healthy baby girl Wendy in 1976.

The day of Wendy's birth was one to remember. Larry had to get fingerprinted for his police certification. He took the opportunity while Gwen was in labor.

"He figured it was going to be awhile so instead of sitting with me, he went ahead and did that while I was giving birth to Wendy," Gwen said and laughed. "He did make it back for her birth."

There was also a huge windstorm in Lake Havasu that knocked out power to the hospital. Gwen said all the lights went out until the emergency generator started.

When Wendy's birth was announced at church, the pastor said she was named Wendy Gail Busby.

"Her name is Wendy Alicia Busby but he told the whole the whole congregation that she was born during that storm and he changed her name," Gwen said.

The Busbys decided to return to Oklahoma. They managed a ranch for five years while Larry got his law enforcement degree from the University of Oklahoma so he could advance in the State Parks.

After graduating with his degree, the Busbys returned to Arizona. Larry took a job at Buckskin State Park on the Colorado River. Gwen described it as "the biggest party park between Arizona and California."

It was enough of a law enforcement nightmare, that Larry decided to get out of law enforcement and took a voluntary demotion. He transferred to Riordan Mansion State Historic Park nearly Flagstaff, Arizona were there wasn't any law enforcement issues. They were there for seven years during which time Gwen managed a medical practice in Flagstaff and Lee and Wendy both graduated from high school.

After their children moved out, the Busbys purchased an RV. They had managed their money well and with the money they had put away and cashing in Gwen's small 401K they were able to work camp for the next 20 years.

"We were tired of being responsible and got itchy feet," Gwen said. She added they had the same mindset about money and never fought about it. "We had a safety net underneath us by having God. We figured God's going to take care of us so let's go have fun."

The Busbys traveled to various parks around the country and worked in return for a place to park their RV. They had many great experiences including capturing feral sheep on the Channel Islands, working at a ski resort in Utah, working as tour guides at the Grand Canyon National Park and working as a boat captain and wrangler at Lake City.

"For 20 years, every six months we would go somewhere," said Gwen.

"We've had lots of fun," Larry added. "We've always liked fun."

The Busbys moved to Montana 20 years ago after Larry was hired as a seasonal ranger at Garnet Ghost Town. That was the first time they had been to Montana and they fell in love with it.

They lived in their RV in the corral behind the Ghost Town. Gwen worked for the Garnet Preservation Association and ran the Visitor Center for 10 years. Because Gwen was an agent for H&R Block, in the winter they would choose an H&R Block and move south for six months.

"I enjoyed that an awful lot where she was the main money maker," said Larry.

In 2013 they purchased a house and property in the Garnet Mountains. They started coming to Seeley Lake for church.

A year and a half ago, they purchased a place in Seeley, right across the street from Wendy and Jim Leetch. Lee lives in Missoula and the Busbys have four grandchildren Sheree, Amber, Tyler and Branden who are all in their 20s and two great grandsons Colton and Jason. They continue to travel as often as they can.

While their marriage was not without health and relationship challenges, Gwen and Larry credit the Lord with bringing them through it all.

"God sustained us," said Gwen. "Had God not been the third strand of the rope, maybe we would have made it but I don't think so."

Larry added, "God and common sense. A lot of times were there are problems it is all emotional. You've got to set the emotion aside and use common sense to figure it out."

The Busbys said they have learned many things in their marriage that helped them in the last 50 years including being patient, talking to each other about everything, having a sense of humor and placing more importance on their relationship than on being right.

Larry said, "Don't ever say, 'I want out.' If you mention it, then you are going to rely on that."

Gwen agreed that it was a choice to stay together and love each other.

"Love is an emotion but you choose to exhibit it," she said. "If there is something bothering you, you need to put it out and be honest."

"I knew he was a good one from the very beginning," Gwen said. "I liked who he was, we had a lot in common and we were friends."

Larry added, "She is my buddy."