KARL PEARSON
ASHTABULA — Anybody who knew anything about John Buskirk was aware that, although he had a definite serious side, he enjoyed laughter and life immensely.
Nearly every photo on display at SS. John and Paul High School’s Mahoney Gymnasium at calling hours Friday for Buskirk showed him in virtually every environment with a huge smile. A few minutes with some of his old friends from his high school days at St. John, from which he graduated in 1993, definitely put a lighter twist on a somber occasion.
Matt Peet, a 1992 St. John alumnus, John Costello, one of Buskirk’s fellow members of the Class of ’93 at St. John, and Todd Menough, a 1993 Geneva High School product, spent plenty of time in their youth in Geneva pulling practical jokes on each other, developing a love for football and just generally living life to the fullest. Costello and Menough will be two of the pallbearers at Buskirk’s funeral today at 11 a.m. at Geneva’s Assumption Catholic Church.
As much as he loved football, Buskirk was a bit of a late bloomer, according to Costello.
“Buzz (the affectionate nickname almost everyone had for Buskirk) didn’t play midget league football,” Costello said. “I was in school with him from first through 12th grade.”
Peet picks up the story from there.
“We had all gone to school together at Assumption,” he said. “(Costello) finally talked him into going to St. John.”
That’s when playing football kicked in for Buskirk.
“I took him over to conditioning practice,” Costello said. “He was wearing jeans, a wristwatch and these pop bottle-thick glasses because he couldn’t see very well.
“I took him over to meet Jim Mackey, who was our head coach back then. Coach Mackey just said, ‘Let’s go. Get in line.’ There was Buzz out running sprints, still wearing those jeans and the watch, and I think he was still wearing the glasses because I know he really couldn’t see.”
Buskirk was not to be mistaken for a natural athlete.
“Buzz wasn’t an athlete, but he was a hard worker,” Costello said. “And he was a very intelligent player.”
Eventually, Buskirk’s work ethic made him into a strong enough player that he became a solid defender and line player. His work on the field and in the classroom was enough to make him St. John’s candidate for the Ashtabula County Touchdown Club’s Robert L. Wiese Memorial Scholarship in 1992. The combination of his intelligence and his work ethic proved attractive enough to Gettysburg College, where he played on the offensive and defensive lines.
Because many of St. John’s players came from Geneva, the meetings between the Heralds and Eagles, coached by the late Bob Herpy in that era, were special. Buskirk and Costello had their share of fun with their neighborhood buddy, Menough, who played for Herpy’s Eagles.
“Geneva was the big rival for us kids who went to St. John who had gone to Assumption,” Peet said.
“For some reason, they used to call me the Gipper (referencing Notre Dame legend George Gipp),” Menough said. “The week of the Geneva game one year, I got to school one morning and everybody was coming up and telling me to go look at the sign. I went outside and here was a huge sign that Buzz had helped make in big, blue letters that said, ‘Lose One for the Gipper.’ I don’t think the (Geneva) coaches were too happy about that.”
Over the years, the friendships remained, with very few downturns. There was one minor exception, though, between Buskirk, who was an avid fisherman, and Menough.
“Buzz had just come back from a fishing trip out in Colorado, and he was telling me all about this amazing new lure he’d found,” Menough said. “He let me borrow (the Jake’s Spin-A-Lure) and I lost it. Buzz usually didn’t get mad about anything, so I knew he was mad, although he didn’t say much about it.
“I’ve kept saying to myself for about 10 years that I had to get him a new one. I finally went out and bought one. I wish I could give it to him.”
All his friends felt Buskirk could beat leukemia a third time. That he couldn’t is a bit of a surprise to them, but they know his indomitable spirit lives on. They will always remember their friend with a smile, and even a hearty laugh.
“I’m kind of in shock,” Costello said. “Knowing how tough he was, I said, ‘It’s Buzz. He’ll beat it.’ But we all know he did everything he could to fight it and lived life the best he could.”
