Melrose Buster Adams

Melrose Buster Adams died March 28, 2020 at the age of 98.  Always known by his middle name, Buster, he was born August 18, 1921 in Travis, Texas the oldest son of Robert Joseph Adams and Annie Lee Asbury Adams.  An independent living resident of Greenspring Village in Springfield, Virginia at the time of death, Buster lived in Washington D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, Falls Church, Virginia, and Springfield for the last 78 years. He will be buried in Mount Comfort Cemetery in Alexandria.

In 1939, he graduated from Crawford High School, Crawford, Texas.  He attended Baylor University for one year, worked in Waco, Texas for a year, and came to Washington, D.C. in 1942.  In Washington, Buster worked as a civilian in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer in the War Department, which subsequently became the Department of the U.S. Army.  He entered the Army as a Private in December 1942 and was discharged in January 1946 as a Technician 4th Grade.  Buster first served in the Signal Corps in the States at Camp Crowder, Missouri and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.  He later served overseas as a Code Clerk from January 1944 to December 1945. Most of his service overseas was in Oro Bay New Guinea (Southwest Pacific).  Before returning to the States, he was briefly stationed in the Philippines and Japan.

After leaving Army active duty, Buster worked as a civilian for the Army Signal Corps in Washington, D.C from 1946 to 1967.  He attended George Washington University at night and received an Associate of Arts Degree in 1954.  In 1967, he transferred to the Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, D.C. where he worked as a planning officer.  He retired on January 1, 1977. 

As a hobby, Buster worked on family history.  His mother’s ancestors were early settlers in the 1600s in Maryland, then migrated to Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama.  His maternal grandfather was born in Texas.  Both of his mother’s grandfathers served in the Confederate Army in the War Between the States.

His paternal grandfather, Joseph Adam (name later changed to Adams) and his Great Grandmother, Barbara Adam, came to the United States in 1879.  His Great Grandparents, Martin and Johanna Guzner, and his Grandmother, Mary (Guzner) Adams, came to the United States in the 1850s and settled in Washington County, Texas in the area known as Mill Creek.  Both families came from Austria in the area known as Moravia which is now part of Czechoslovakia.

Buster was a member of the George Washington Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution; Veterans of Foreign Wars; Robert E. Lee Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans; Alexandria Chapter of the NARFE; and the First Baptist Church of Alexandria.  He was a member of RSVP in Alexandria and, for many years volunteered in the Meals on Wheels Program.

Buster was a wonderful man and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He is survived by his beloved wife of 70 years, Eloise Peyton Adams of Springfield, VA; a son Bruce Adams and his wife, Sandy Adams, of Springfield, VA; a daughter, Lynn A. Rourke and her husband Edward J. Rourke, Jr., of The Woodlands, Texas; a grandson, Colin Adams and his wife Michelle, and three granddaughters, Erin O’Connell and her husband Ryan, Kristin Rourke, and Kara Rourke.  He is also survived by four great grandchildren:  Jacob Adams, Claire Adams, Abby O’Connell, and Mila O’Connell.  He is also survived by a younger brother Kenneth Adams of Allen, TX.  His brothers Robert Adams and Dan Adams preceded him in death. 

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