Born in St. Louis, MO on April 1, 1939, Roy Frederick Busdiecker Jr.’s early years included friendly teasing about being born on “April Fool’s Day.” His father, Roy Sr., had earned a commission in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps and was stationed at the Quartermaster Depot in Kansas City, MO. Beginning with the outbreak of war, Roy Jr. saw his father in uniform every day as he left for work and returned in the evening. That example instilled in Roy the belief that military service was a patriotic and honorable profession. 

In those days, before television, news arrived by radio or in the newspaper. If one were fortunate enough to go to the movies, there was usually a newsreel before or after the feature film. In the early 1940s, the news was dominated by World War II, and those newsreels included combat footage that made a deep impression on young Roy.

Roy sought and obtained a competitive nomination to the United States Military Academy, which he entered in the summer of 1957. Roy’s German and Swiss ancestry and the effect of World War II inspired in him an interest in Europe and led him to study the German language as his one elective course at the Academy. Upon his graduation and commissioning as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Roy was sent to Europe to join the 504th Signal Battalion, stationed in Giessen, and later transferred to the 8th Signal Battalion, 8th Infantry Division in Bad Kreuznach, Germany.

Upon his return to the United States, Roy earned a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA and taught in the Department of Electricity at West Point. While as instructor and assistant professor in the Department of Electricity at West Point he developed two new courses: Computer Systems and Computer Engineering. During his first tour of duty in Vietnam, as a member of the Army’s 1st Signal Brigade, he oversaw completion of the Integrated Wideband Communication System (IWCS). During his second tour he was assigned to the Defense Communication Agency and oversaw the transfer of IWCS sites to the Republic of Vietnam’s armed forces. Both tours involved flying over enemy territory to communication sites from the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam to the deep delta region in the southern part of the country. 

While assigned to the Office of the Project Manager for Army Tactical Data Systems at Fort Monmouth, NJ, he provided government oversight of the development of the Digital Message Device, one of the first man-portable military computer systems for combat environments. In the Pentagon he worked on special projects in the Office of the Army Chief of Staff and the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Selected for assignment as project manager for Tactical Management Information Systems at Fort Belvoir, VA, Roy oversaw development of multiple hardware and software systems for battlefield use. He received two awards of the Legion of Merit and other U.S. and Vietnamese decorations.

Following retirement from the Army, Roy worked five years as an executive in the headquarters of the Defense Systems Division of Unisys Corporation in Northern Virginia. He later developed and taught computer courses for Learning Tree International.

In 2004 Roy retired and he and his wife, Janice, whom he married several months after graduating from West Point, moved to Overland Park, KS, where they enjoyed participating in local activities, including reunions with Roy’s Paseo High School class. Traveling the United States by car was a wonderful pastime, and they especially loved visiting the Colorado Rockies. They also made several trips to Europe, where they enjoyed traveling with Roy’s West Point roommate Darryl Hersant and his wife, Barbara, and also visited Roy’s ancestral homes in Melle, Germany and Herzogenbuchsee, Switzerland. One year they went back to the two places at which Roy had been stationed: Giessen and Bad Kreuznach. The following year they took their three children—Roy III (Rick), Linda and Paul—on a Rhine river cruise that went close to Bad Kreuznach, where two of their children had been born. During another summer, Darryl and Roy took Darryl’s sailboat, Moira, on a trip from the Potsdamer Yacht Club in Berlin Wannsee to Amsterdam via canals, the North Sea, rivers and the Zuiderzee, calling the trip “The Old Boys’ Big Adventure,” a trip of about 18 days motoring at about six miles per hour. Moira flew the German flag, and they were mistaken for Germans. It was a fun way for Roy to get to speak German instead of being someone the Germans used to practice English. All in all, it was the adventure of a lifetime.

In March 2020 Roy and Jan moved to Inver Grove Heights, MN to be closer to their daughter.

Roy enjoyed life and made others enjoy their lives. He will be greatly missed by his family (including three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren) and friends.

— Roy and Janice Busdiecker