Howard Kenneth Busch

Kenneth, Herman and Ruth's second child, was born May 17, 1919, in Mason City, Illinois. He began school at a country school, the Seven Mile corner school and subsequently attended schools in Mason City, Macomb and Urbana, Illinois, graduation from Mason City High. He won a four year scholarship via a county wide exam and enrolled in the University of Illinois in the fall of 1936. He graduated with a BSc in Chemical Engineering in 1941.

He married Edith Geraldine Smith (born February 12, 1917) on May 31, 1941, in the San Jose, Illinois, Methodist Church. Gerry, daughter of Edwin and Edith Stone in San Jose, graduated from San Jose High School and two years later from Eureka College. She had taught school for several years before she and Kenneth married.

Kenneth and Gerry had three children, Gerald Kenneth, born March 15, 1942; Keith Robert, born November 7, 1945, and Susan Edith, born May 23, 1951.
 

Kenneth, Vice President,  Celanese Corporation 1959

Kenneth and Gerry in 1955

Hermann, Jerry, Kenneth, Herman (standing) in 1944

Kenneth joined Sharles Chemical Company in Wyandotte, Michigan, as a chemical engineer after graduating from the University of Illinois. In April, 1946, he joined Celanese Chemical Company as a distillation expert. From 1951 to 1957, he was assigned to the Canadian Chemical Company in its Edmonton, Alberta, plant. In 1957 he was promoted to Plant Manger of the Celanese Fiber division plant in Narrows, Virginia. He advanced to Exec. VP and CEO of Celanese Mexicana, SA in Mexico City until 1962. He returned to the U.S. to become President of Celanese Chemical Division in in New York 1963. In 1965 Kenneth was appointed a vice-president of Celanese Corporation to accomplish unifying conceptual planning for Celanese chemical processes, manufacturing facilites and engineering resources on a world-wide basis. Kenneth had worked in Celanese facilities in the U.S. , Canada and Mexico.

After retiring from Celanese, Kenneth joined Day & Zimmermann in Philadelphia while working as an outside consultant with assignments in Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Libya, Italy, Canada, Guatemala, Holland, England and Scotland. He consulted for Day & Zimmermann in Texas until 1990 and Mundy Companies in Houston to the present.

From 1979 Kenneth and Gerry lived in Sugar Land, Texas, southwest of Houston.
 
 

Gerry in 1965

Gerry and Bo in 1967

After nearly 51 years of marriage, Gerry died from andencarcinoma of the lung on March 21, 1992. She was interred in Mason City, Illinois.
 

Kenneth  in  1970

Gerry in 1970

On June 12, 1993, Kenneth married Joan Hinson, a widow. They were later divorced on December 15, 2000.