Sylvia Clare Busken

Sylvia Clare Busken (nee Hutchinson) passed away on April 17, 2025 at the age of 94. She was born in 1930 in Cincinnati to Harry and Hilda Hutchinson. Sylvia spent most of her life in the College Hill area where she met Sylvester J. Busken, whom she married in 1951. She became the loving mother of Ann (Lino) Salzano, Mary Busken Kimsey, Patrick (Judy) Busken, Elizabeth (David) Helmers, Kathleen (Joseph) Gorman, Clare (Cary) Watson, Teresa Busken (Vladimir Jovanovich), Joseph (Kathy) Busken, Daniel Busken, and Ellie (Trey) Palmer. Over time, she was blessed with 31 grandchildren and 47 great-grandchildren. In addition, she is the aunt and great-aunt to many on both the Hutchinson and Busken sides of the family.

A woman of many talents, Sylvia played a bit of piano and, while at Our Lady of Angels High School, played tenor saxophone in the school’s marching band. Sylvia enjoyed sewing and reading. As her vision became increasingly impaired in recent years, she found comfort listening to music DVDs by Andrea Bocelli, Rodgers and Hammerstein (South Pacific), and other musicians of her generation.

While she was a full-time mom, Sylvia had a variety of part-time jobs that she worked on from home. She was a part-time bookkeeper for Mt. Healthy Hatchery for decades. In addition, she was an incredible seamstress. She made and repaired clothing, made choir robes for a local church, and reupholstered furniture. Over the years, she taught all her children, even the boys, to sew.

Maine, Hawaii, Montana, and Georgia are just a few of the places Sylvia visited in her lifetime. She loved to travel with all of the family, with just her husband of 40 years, “Syl”, with her good friend Nancy Budke, or with one of her children. Syl and Sylvia regularly took the family on camping trips (with all twelve members of the family piled into the old blue station wagon!). Sylvia frequently mentioned to anyone who would listen that what she liked most about her family was their sense of humor.

Sylvia was a firm believer in the power of prayer and was a devout Catholic. She had no choice but to be a good Catholic because the priests lived next door to the “Busken house”, the nuns lived behind it, and the local Catholic school was cattycorner! Involvement in the church for her included the creation of a Youth Club with her friend, Nancy, providing a safe place for some St. Clare teens to have fun. She felt her purpose in her later years of life was to pray. She prayed for her children, others’ special intentions, peace in the world, and people suffering in war-torn countries. She and Nancy “prayed the steps” of the Catholic church in Mt. Adams during many an Easter Week.

She is predeceased by her dad, Harry Hutchinson, her mom, Hilda (Frey) Hutchinson (who passed away when Sylvia was two years old), her stepmother, Agnes (Frey) Hutchinson, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. She has outlived her husband, Sylvester, her daughter, Ann Salzano, her sons-in-law Garry Gloeckner and Trey Palmer, and her grandson, baby David Helmers. She is predeceased by all her siblings – “Boots” Hutchinson, Gil Hutchinson, baby Audrey Hutchinson, Gwynedd Jansen, and Jeanne Masur. Finally, she outlived her best friend of almost 80 years, Nancy Budke.

This incredible mother of ten was a kind and generous woman. She would help anyone in need. Before passing away, she asked that anyone wishing to donate in her name to please do so by donating to the St. Clare Church St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 from 10:00 AM until Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM at St. Clare Church, 1443 Cedar Ave, College Hill, 45224. The service will be live-streamed at https://www.saintclareparish.org/livestream