Multi-talented Ruth Bussard, for 62 years the calming influence for spirited swim coach Ray Bussard, has died at age 92.
She is survived by daughters Terry Bussard Hughes, Christy Bussard and Jackie Bussard Bertucci.
Funeral arrangements are here.
“Ruth was second mother to the many swimmers who came through Coach Bussard’s program at Tennessee,” said Jimmy Wheeler, a former manager and close associate.
“She was the gracious hostess at team cookouts and other social functions,” said Father Mike Nolen, former Knoxville pastor and longtime family friend. “She made a point of meeting parents. She found time for everybody. She was concerned about people. She cared.”
He also said Ruth made really good chili.
She was an artist. We have a collection of Christmas cards made from her paintings.
Wheeler said he and others in the swim family “had a lot of fun when Ruth coached the coach about some of the little things he did or didn’t do.”
Tough but gentle was one descriptive term.
There is no way to tell the Ruth story without telling some of the Ray story. He was from the backwoods of Highland County, Virginia. He finished high school at age 17. World War II was still smoking but there was less fire.
Ray’s mother thought he should go to college. Without any idea what he was doing, he caught a bus to Athens, Ohio, and enrolled at Ohio University.
They didn’t play football where Ray came from but he went out for college football and was almost immediately second-team fullback and linebacker. He helped Ohio U. upset West Virginia, 14-0.
Soon thereafter, he transferred to Bridgewater College. It was closer to home. The day he arrived; he was invited to join the basketball team. Somebody had heard he had been the best high school player in the region.
In 1946, when Ray had just turned 19, a high school superintendent asked if he would drop out of Bridgewater, come back home and become a teacher. Men were scarce in the classrooms of Augusta County. It had waived education requirements. He was offered his choice of three jobs. He chose Craigsville as boys’ basketball coach and seventh-grade teacher, $115 per month.
Enter Ruth Cauley.
Ray said she was pretty as a picture but a genuine warrior on the girls’ basketball team. He watched the preliminary games while the boys were dressing for main events. He asked one of his players for Ruth’s information. He offered to arrange a double-date. They went to the movies.
Coach dating player raised some eyebrows in the community. Ruth’s parents investigated and found Ruth and Ray were near enough to the same age. They actually liked the young coach. He had been to college.
After graduation, Ruth enrolled at Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. She was going to major in voice and piano. She also found a hospital job in Staunton.
Ray didn’t like the commute. They married in August 1948. It was the social event of the season. She got a job. He went back to Bridgewater. She paid his tuition.
Ruth was a school secretary. Ray heard about an opening for a life guard at a community pool. Basic requirement was a water safety certificate. He could teach her. He was a tough taskmaster but she passed the test – and refused to speak to him for a month.
There was at least one miracle in Ruth’s life. One morning on her way to work, she drove into a construction zone. She stopped to await clearance. She got the go sign and carefully eased around a bulldozer and other heavy equipment – and came face to face with a large truck. She turned left to what she thought was the less hazardous shoulder of the narrow road.
She hit sometime. The driver-side door sprang open. Ruth went into orbit. The car went over a bank and into a ravine. She skidded a few yards in gravel.
She was getting up before construction workers reached her. Her long, heavy woolen coat suffered severe damage. Ruth didn’t get a scratch.
Ruth Bussard did a thousand things to support Ray Bussard’s coaching success – eight Southeastern Conference championships, one NCAA title, sprint and turn assistant coach for Team USA at the 1984 Olympics.
Ruth was there, every step of the way.
Ruth and Father Nolen were at Bridgewater the night the school inducted Ray into the hall of fame. I was the speaker. I told the audience how hard the Bussards had worked to get to that point in life. Ruth got out a tissue, just in case.
“We worked so hard … we were so busy but we were young and we enjoyed it … we didn’t have a whole lot of social life.”
Ruth understood Ray was an outstanding coach, different, maybe brilliant.
“The most amazing thing he did was breaking into the swimming world.”
It was a tight-knit fraternity. His opportunity at the University of Tennessee was the big break.
The university was putting the finishing touches on the campus swim facility. It dawned on athletics director Bob Woodruff that if was going to get a pool, he might need a coach.
Some said “stroke of genius” that Bob found Bussard coaching at a Chattanooga high school – track, football, basketball and baseball.
In fact, Chuck Rohe told Woodruff that Bussard was a great competitor and wouldn’t cost much. Rohe did not mention that Bussard had instructed only age-group swimming in his spare time, that he had never had even a high school swim team in a competitive meet.
Ruth had complete faith Ray could do it. She knew how he won so many high school championships back in ol’ Virginia in a variety of sports. She knew Woodruff didn’t expect much. She heard him say all Ray needed was a pond and some fish, Bob’s words for the aquatics building and a few Dave Edgars, Andy Coans and Matt Vogels.
Woodruff got a bargain but had no idea what he was really getting. Ruth knew.
Marvin West wrote a biography of Ray Bussard, Spizzerinctum, in 2006. He welcomes reader comments or questions. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com