A prayer service was held Feb. 7 at Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home in Jefferson for Earl Dean “Busch” Fredrickson, 65, of Otho.
Earl Dean “Busch” Fredrickson was born on March 23, 1952, in Dexter to Richard and Kathleen Fredrickson. He was baptized as an infant at Zion Lutheran Church in Dexter and later confirmed at St John Lutheran Church in Dana. At the time of his death he was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge.
After the family moved to Paton, Busch attended grade school at Paton Consolidated School and later junior high and high school at Paton-Churdan Community Schools, graduating in 1970.
After graduating from high school Busch worked a number of jobs, all of which involved heavy equipment, truck driving or a combination of both. He was drafted in the Army during the Vietnam Conflict, but was classified medically unfit for duty based on a previous hand injury that did not heal properly and prevented him from successfully firing a rifle. Busch partnered with his older brother Jack Fredrickson to farm for a brief period in Dexter but his love of machines and motorcycles lead him away from farming.
On Dec. 20, 1980, Busch was united in marriage to Brenda Crosman of Ogden. They welcomed their son Travis Jon on Jan. 15, 1982. Travis shared his dad’s love of motorcycles and tinkering with machines, which developed into a passion for bicycles at a very young age. Busch and Travis also shared a love for fishing and spent many hours together at their favorite fishing spot near their home on the Des Moines River that flows through Fort Dodge. Busch was profoundly saddened and never really recovered from Travis’s death in June of 2015.
Busch spent the majority of his adult life living and working in Fort Dodge and the surrounding area. Busch spent his last years living at 209 Main in Otho. He said he bought the place because it was an easy address to remember as he and his siblings often gathered at the 209 Main restaurant in Paton.
Busch loved Harley Davidsons – which he often commented required more work than they were worth – but he loved tinkering and repairing these finicky machines. One of his favorite days of the year was the first day he could get on his Harley and ride after a long, cold Iowa winter. Busch had a big laugh and enjoyed good Iowa cooking, a good beer or even a cheap one, and spending time with friends.
Busch passed away Feb. 3, 2018, at Unity Point-Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge following a lengthy battle with congestive heart failure. He was preceded in death by his father Richard Clyde (RC) Fredrickson, his mother Kathleen Marie (Kay) Fillman Fredrickson and his son Travis Jon Fredrickson.
He will be remembered by his brothers Jack (Lisa) Fredrickson of Jefferson and Mark (Bridget Reagan) Fredrickson of Omaha, NE; sisters Nina (Ross) Noldon of Roseville, CA, and Cindy (Carlos) Murillo of Goodyear, AZ; four nieces and a nephew; his uncle Fred Fillman of Paton; aunt Janet Fillman Hegwood of Lewisburg, OH; and many cousins and friends.
