Adam Buxbaum

Glendive, Montana: Adam LeRoy Buxbaum, age 70, passed away on Sunday, March 31, 2013 at the Eastern Montana Veterans Home in Glendive with his family by his side. A Memorial Service will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, April 4, 2013 in the Chapel of the Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home with Reverend James Hageman and Celebrant Sandy Silha officiating. Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Glendive has been entrusted with the arrangements. Adam was born on June 11, 1942 in Glendive, a son of Adam and Freida (Mittlestadt) Buxbaum. He was raised and educated in Glendive where he attended Dawson County High School. Following high school Adam enlisted in the United States Navy in September of 1959 where he served on the USS Renville during the Vietnam War. Adam received his honorable discharge from military service in April of 1963. Following his discharge Adam moved back to Glendive where he farmed and ranched with his dad and continued farming with his son until he retired in 1995. Adam met and later married Boni Dame in 1964 and together they had two sons, Bob and Brad. Later in Adams life he met and married his best friend Rita Moe on June 22, 1984 in Belle Fourche, South Dakota and to this union a son, Tyler was born. Adam was a very patriotic man. He enjoyed farming, driving truck, playing cards and spending time in his garden. He loved spending time with his family and playing with his grandchildren. Adam was a very proud father and a loving husband. He served on the Grain Growers Board, the ASCS Board for many years and was a life time member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Club #1125. He was preceded in death by his parents, Adam and Freida Buxbaum; brother-in-law, Don Barthel and step-father, Frank Lapp. Survivors include his loving wife of twenty-eight years, Rita Buxbaum of Glendive; children, Brad Buxbaum of Helena, Montana, Bob (Farrah) Buxbaum of Glendive and Tyler (Amy) Buxbaum of Glendive; step-children, Jeff Trangmoe of Glendive and Blake (Tami Lee) Trangmoe of Glendive; grandchildren, Morgynn, Wyatt, Aiden, Willow, Ali, Jessica, Kailee all of Glendive and Brandon and Dayton of Helena; great-grandchild, Danica of Helena; sisters, Betty Barthel of Glendive, Alyce (Keith) Warrenberg of Spokane, Washington and Jane (Ron) Colbrese of Glendive and numerous nieces and nephews. Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at: www.silvernale-silhafuneralhome.com. Adam LeRoy Buxbaum. There are those people who knew him as Adam, and others who knew him as LeRoy. In a formal and proper atmosphere, he preferred to be called Adam; with family and close friends, he was LeRoy. As we remember him today, we will call him LeRoy. Whatever name you put to this man, LeRoy was always the same man; hardworking, big hearted, stubborn, introspective, straightforward, and a prankster. And as son Brad says, LeRoy didn’t care if you liked it or not, just take it or leave it. What you saw was what you got. Born in 1942, the only son of Adam and Freida Buxbaum, LeRoy grew up with three sisters, living and going to school here in Glendive. He enjoyed a few wild times with friends, one story being about running out of gas money. One night, with places to go and things to do but no gas, LeRoy and his friend, Kenny Sampson, shut off the engine and pushed LeRoy’s car a short distance into LeRoy’s parents farmyard, filling the car with gas from a farm tank, and pushing the car back out of the yard. They thought they had really pulled a fast one, only to find out later that LeRoy’s parents had watched them from the kitchen window. It was a local judge that strongly suggested that LeRoy consider going into the United States Navy. LeRoy took his suggestion and enlisted. During LeRoy’s time in the military, he served on the USS Renville, a ship that carried troops across the Pacific during the Viet Nam War. LeRoy was a proud veteran, and the Navy gave him the opportunity to see parts of the world and its people that he might never have encountered otherwise. One of the things that LeRoy noticed was how many people didn’t have enough to eat. Later in life he told his son, Tyler, that seeing people starving was one reason he came home and went into farming with his dad. LeRoy and his dad also ran trucks, hauling fuel and livestock. In the mid sixties, LeRoy met and married his first wife, Boni, and they started their family, having two sons, Brad and Bob. Between farming and trucking, LeRoy was either working the land and cattle or on the road driving . For his sons to spend time with their father it meant going out in the field with him or once in a while going on the road in the truck with him. LeRoy did follow Bob when he played baseball. But mostly, LeRoy worked. Family gatherings, and socializing at brandings and harvest became an important part of life for LeRoy and his family. Gatherings usually included card playing and most certainly story telling. When asked if LeRoy embellished his stories, LeRoy’s family just would say that they sounded real. Later in life, LeRoy met and married his best friend and life partner, Rita. LeRoy and Rita met through a relative of Rita’s who knew LeRoy. To LeRoy, Rita was Red. Her father called Rita, Redda, which was shortened to Red, and the cousin who introduced them call her Red, a name that stuck for LeRoy through 28 years of marriage. Together LeRoy and Rita had a son. LeRoy’s only request was that this son be named for a best friend LeRoy had in the military named Thomas Jefferson. His new son didn’t have to be named Thomas Jefferson but it would be nice if at least the initials TJ were used. Rita went with that and their new baby boy was named Tyler James, TJ. Rita and LeRoy enjoyed spending time together with the best time coming at the end of the workday when they could catch up with each other and rehash the day’s activities. Sometimes, going into the Wagon Wheel for beer and stories with friends fit the bill just fine. In his younger day, LeRoy wasn’t much to verbalize his feelings, but no one felt unloved. LeRoy was always looking out for his family, and they knew it. Rita recalls a Mother’s Day when TJ was just a baby and she LeRoy and TJ drove “up top” with the horse trailer. LeRoy unloaded his horse to ride down to the creek, and Rita was supposed to drive the trailer down. It was a steep hill and Rita was petrified. When she arrived at the bottom of the hill, as she sighed in relief, LeRoy rode up on his horse and presented her with a bouquet of wild flowers he had just picked. A memorable moment for TJ was going out to the field to do some farming, and climbing onto the tractor. There, stuck on the steering wheel, was a note. LeRoy had written on a napkin or something about how the tractor was full of fuel and ready to go, “love, Dad.” A man of few words, as LeRoy aged, he found a way to verbalize his love to his family more and more often. And although they already knew he did, oh how nice it was to hear. Because LeRoy worked hard, it was not often that he went very far from home just to have fun. Memorable trips included a trip to Alaska to visit Rita’s family. They went salmon fishing and LeRoy liked Alaska and their time there. Another memorable trip was with Jerry Tillman to Las Vegas to the National Finals Rodeo. Most of the memories LeRoy made with family and friends were simple times of working together, conservations and stories, and jokes and pranks. Some of the pranks included LeRoy and his neighbors and friends spending time hiding vehicles from one another, greasing up the farm equipment steering wheels and handles, putting snakes under the floor boards to name a few. Daughter-in-law, Farrah, recalls LeRoy always telling Ole and Lena jokes. Standard clothing for LeRoy included a snap up shirt, hat and boots, and a silk handkerchief. And about his pants, they just always seemed to need to be pulled up. It’s hard to say what LeRoy enjoyed most, the ranching or the farming. LeRoy enjoyed his cattle, and he loved his horse, Rusty. Ole Rusty was a hard horse to catch, but once you had him he was a gentle horse to ride, and he and LeRoy seemed to understand each other. Brandings were a favorite time, when friends and neighbors would get together to work, eat and tell stories. A tradition at days end at branding time wasto throw back a slug of Yukon Jack. One branding story happened years back, LeRoy had cut the ends of two fingers off and the doctors had sewn them back on, wired them straight, and bandaged them. LeRoy smoked in those days, and it was branding time. During a break in the action, LeRoy lit up and the bandages caught on fire. By the time LeRoy had beat out the flames, the bandages were history. He wouldn’t leave the branding to reset the wires and bandages, and consequently, had two crooked finger tips. As for farming, LeRoy enjoyed the planting, the cultivating, and the harvest. He just enjoyed the process. He loved to garden, his family called it “little farming”, and he had a huge garden that he irrigated. He grew everything and anything, purple potatoes, dill, and all the common vegetables. He had a bucket that he would sit on and just watch his garden grow. One day, LeRoy came home and was moving a bit funny and moaning. Rita asked him what had happened. Well, LeRoy had sat on his bucket most of the day. Remember those pants that always needed pulling up…his shirt had crawled up his back and his pants creeped down while he sat watching his garden, and he picked up an angry sunburn across his lower back. LeRoy was like that though, he would sit by himself and just think or daydream. His bucket by the garden was one place and his other favorite was to ride or drive “up top” and spend time with his thoughts and getting himself right with God and the world. He enjoyed watching wild creatures and did not hunt. He considered pheasants his pets, feeding them and enjoying their beauty. LeRoy had strong opinions and like most independent people, he liked things done his way. The family knew when LeRoy was cursing in German, to stay away, that meant he was seriously mad. He could be stubborn, and Bob, who worked on the farm with his dad, says it took him, Bob, a long time to figure out to make strong suggestions rather than to try to tell his dad anything. LeRoy had great pride in himself and his family. He was very conscious about taking care of all of them, stopping in, if only for a minute, to see if they needed him for anything. He was a good neighbor, often leaving his own work to help out others. LeRoy enjoyed being a grandfather. It came at a time in his life when he wasn’t so busy working and could get to know his grandkids. Morgynn’s favorite memory of Grandpa LeRoy is that whenever he came out to the farm, he always had a smile for her that was contagious, and he always called her “Tweety bird! Wyatt will always remember his grandpa taking time to go fishing with Wyatt and showing Wyatt how to set lines. LeRoy didn’t really like to fish, but he knew Wyatt did. LeRoy would get down on the floor to drive tractors around with young Aiden. Baby Willow held a special place in her grandfather’s heart and arms; LeRoy loved to hold her and comfort her when she fussed. LeRoy expressed how thankful he was to have lived long enough to hold Willow and get to know her. Jessica noticed and remembers how hard her grandfather worked, and enjoyed when he called her “Squirt.” Kailee and Ali liked running into grandpa at the Trail Star. Grandpa would give them money to go next door and buy M&M’s and they all enjoyed having Pepsi’s together. LeRoy was an important man to his family. They will miss his presence in their daily lives. They will miss his stopping in to check on them and see if they needed him for anything. They will miss going to him for advice about farming, about life. Towards the end, LeRoy didn’t always recognize people. Special to Farrah will be one of those times, she walked in and LeRoy looked right through her, not recognizing her. After a few minutes, he knew who she was, his eyes lit up, and he wrapped her in a huge hug. Adam LeRoy Buxbaum had great love for his family and they for him. He will be greatly missed.

Adam Buxbaum

June 11, 1942 - April 4, 2013

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Adam Buxbaum

June 11, 1942 - April 4, 2013

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Flowers & Gifts

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