Passings

J. Riley Busacker

J. Riley Busacker, 78, of Cheyenne, passed away Aug. 19 surrounded by his family after a courageous dementia journey. He was born Jan. 21, 1944, in Cheyenne, to Howard and Rowena Busacker.

Busacker graduated from Cheyenne East High School in 1962 and attended college, Busacker first at the University of Colorado-Boulder, before transferring to Laramie to attend the University of Wyoming.

In the summer of 1971, he returned to Cheyenne. On March 25, 1972, he married Jacqueline Cheese and they raised two children, Chauncey and Ashley.

Busacker was a contractor for 10 years in Cheyenne before beginning his 27 years of service as a state employee. He worked at multiple state agencies before finishing his career in the Bridge section of WYDOT. He retired from Bridge in 2009 with 27 years of service.

In his spare time was a skilled carpenter and enjoyed sharing his talent with friends, relatives and the community. His love of carpentry is evident by his vast collection of building supplies and tools. He enjoyed a friendly game of cribbage with his coworkers.

In retirement, he found joy in golf and recounting the round afterwards with the guys. He was an avid sports fan, rarely missing Wyoming Cowboy football and basketball games.

He was a dedicated Cheyenne Frontier Days volunteer for 50 years, and was elected to the Cheyenne Frontier Days HEELS organization in 1975. Busacker was a member of the Cowboy Joe Club, Old West Museum, ELKS Lodge, the Cheyenne Quarterback Club and the Airport Golf Club.

A memorial service was held Aug. 27 at the Wiederspahan-Radomsky Chapel followed by a reception at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Buckle Club.

Linda K. Reid

Linda Kay Reid, 71, died Aug 8, surrounded by her family at home in Cheyenne.

She was born in Cheyenne on Jan. 15, 1951, to Russell and Ruth Phelps of Cheyenne and made this her home her entire life. Reid graduated from Cheyenne Central High School in 1969.

At the age of 17, she began her first and only job with WYDOT in the Project Development section, where she had a hand in designing many of the roads throughout Wyoming. Reid retired from WYDOT in June 2002 with 34 years of service.

On May 23, 1989, she married the man of her dreams, Stu Reid, and they were married for more than 33 years. Together they enjoyed traveling, working on house projects, spending time with family and cheering for the Green Bay Packers and Colorado Rockies. Reid and her husband were inseparable over the years.

She enjoyed many hobbies and when not spending time with her grandchildren or husband, you could find her woodworking, sewing, quilting, cross stitching and working on puzzles. She was a very intelligent, creative and innovative person with an admirable ability to think outside the box when it came to making things. One of her pieces can be found in the Dubois Military Museum in Dubois.

Her goals and desires for retirement were to spend as much time as possible with her grandchildren. Reid was a loving wife, mom, grandma, great-grandma, sister and aunt. She was a wonderful friend to many, and a devoted “dog mom” to her beloved dogs throughout her life. She will be very greatly missed.

Reid

K-9 Hunter

The Wyoming Highway Patrol is saddened to report the passing of retired narcotics detection K-9, Hunter, Aug. 11.

K-9 Hunter was acquired in 2010 for narcotics detection work and paired initially with Sergeant Jeremy Beck (2010 - 2017), who is now assigned to the Safety Hunter and Training Section at Headquarters in Cheyenne as the Wyoming Highway Patrol’s Public Information Officer.

Most recently, K-9 Hunter and his handler, Trooper Scott Neilson, were assigned to Division ‘D’ in Lyman (2017 - 2019). K-9 Hunter served the state of Wyoming for a total of nine years and, during that time, was deployed 418 times resulting in several cases where illegal narcotics were seized. K-9 Hunter was involved in the seizure of more than 1,069 pounds of marijuana, 136.1 grams of cocaine, 4.7 pounds of methamphetamine, 35.1 grams of heroin and 1.3 pounds of other illegal narcotics. K-9 Hunter was also instrumental in the seizure of illicit funds generated from the trafficking of narcotics of over $382,667.00 of U.S. Currency. At the time of K-9 Hunter’s retirement in September 2019, he was the longest-serving K-9 on Highway Patrol K-9 Team.

K-9 Hunter spent his remaining days with the Neilson family and spent his last week running around chasing his ball and swimming while the family was enjoying the lake. He passed away peacefully on his favorite bed next to the wood-burning stove.

Our condolences to Trooper Neilson and his family. Hunter will be missed. n