Professor and Mrs. Frederick Bushee

Reminisce by Earl David Crockett, 2002

Every antique collector wonders of the history when examining a fine treasure from the past. It is a special gift when the history of an antique is known. Ann and I possess a worn partial set of silver flatware from the 1870s. The spoons are coin sliver and the rest sterling. Over the past 30 years we have nearly completed the set with other matching antique pieces and new ones that almost match. The closest to the original is a pattern called “Pointed Antique” by Reed and Barton. The original ones are engraved with the initial “B.” We engraved the new pieces with “C.”

Della (my Mother) left the silver to us when she died. She had a large set of Chantilly pattern sterling silver flatware as well that more closely met my two sisters’ tastes. I had always loved the plain, smooth, honest lines of Pointed Antique. Della seldom used it and so caused no wear to the silver. Frederick Alexander and Bertha Bushee gave their silver to my parents. The Bushees had received in as a wedding gift from their parents and used it every day of their long life together. The silver has the patina of use and love. Professor and Mrs. Bushee were my surrogate “grandparents” in Boulder, Colorado. However, even my parents addressed them as Professor or Dr. and Mrs. Bushee. He had been the Chairman of the Social Science Department (anthropology, economics, political science and sociology) at the University of Colorado. Earl (my father) became Chairman when Dr. Bushee retired in 1939. Professor and Mrs. Bushee welcomed Earl and Della when they arrived in Boulder in the fall of 1934.

Picture: Professor and Mrs. Frederick A. Bushee (age 82), 1956 Photo by Earl David (age 20)

The Bushees lived in a beautiful two story brick house on Aurora Avenue diagonally across the street from the S.A.E. fraternity house. It was on the route I traveled walking to University Hill School (grades K-9). I would see Dr. Bushee sitting by the fireplace reading. In the winter time there was a fire. But winter or summer he was perfectly dressed in suit, tie and vest. I never saw him without his suit coat. I would have liked to stop, but the family never made a visit without calling first. I did enjoy the visits where my parents included me. Mrs. Bushee always served cookies and milk or hot chocolate on a silver tray. Both of the Bushees took a great deal of interest in the Crockett children’s activities and asked many questions. The gifts they gave to us on special occasions were carefully chosen books. Della said before coming to the University of Colorado she had little training in entertaining or of being a gracious hostess. The Bushees became role models for both Earl and Della. The Bushees entertained the department members regularly while he was chairman. Mrs. Bushee was happy to show Della how to give large parties in style yet making everyone feel accepted and comfortable. Dr. Bushee understood the academic world well and was happy to share that knowledge with Earl.

Dr. Bushee field was Sociology. In searching on the Internet, I found four references:

Frederick Bushee, "The Declining Birth Rate and Its Cause," Popular Science Monthly (1903),

Bushee, Frederick A. 1905. "Communistic Societies in the United States." Political Science Quarterly 20: 625-63,

Frederick A. Bushee, Ethnic Factors in the Population of Boston (New York: Arno Press, 1970, reprint, New York: MacMillian Company, 1903),

Bushee, Frederick A., Principles of Sociology. 577 pp. Henry Holt & Co. (1923).

Several universities still include the latter two on reading lists in sociology. The table of content of the Ethnic Factors included: Causes of Immigration, Characteristics of Immigrants, Standard of Living, Vitality, Occupations, Poverty, Crime, Naturalization, and Intermarriage.

The Bushees only child was the University of Colorado and they carefully planned to take care of it after they were gone. Although Dad was not the executor of their estate, the Bushees had him oversee their financial relations with their lawyer. Upon their death, the house and all contents except for a few books and the silver flatware were to be sold and with their life savings given to the University of Colorado. Della and Earl regularly visited the Bushees in their later years when they both were confined to the hospital, The Seventh-day Adventist World Church Sanitarium, located across town. Both become ill at about the same time. Eventually they were both on complete life support systems. They “lived” for another two years and departed the earth at the same time. When they died, having had no medical insurance and both being hospitalized for such an extended period, all the money that was to go to the University of Colorado had been spent including that resulting from the sale of their house and belongings. My parents prepared the house for the “estate” sale. They found all the linens, napkins, underwear, and socks carefully mended, folded and stored with precision. All the perfect white shirts that Professor Bushee always wore all had the cuffs and collars lovingly turned to extend their years of usability.

The experience of dealing with the Bushees’ final years caused my parents to carefully plan for their own old age. They carefully formulated their views regarding estate planning and in not using life-sustaining treatments in final stage of dying. They even had most positions labeled by name for children and grandchildren.

But even of greater importance, the Crocketts learned lessons of life and living from the Bushees. One example that Della passed on to me from Mrs. Bushee, “one should never be afraid or intimidated in meeting a consequential or powerful person. The truly great people will make you feel at ease and be interested in you as well as sharing their insights.”