Edward “Ed” Busse, age 89, passed away on Saturday, June 6, at University Wisconsin Hospital due to complications from a brain hemorrhage. He was born on August 10, 1936, to Melvin and Mae (Fortney) Busse in Madison, WI.

Ed grew up on a farm in Lake Windsor, WI. As part of a large family, Ed worked the land with his parents, his four brothers, and three sisters until that fateful day when his dad decided he was going to transform his farmland into what we now know as Lake Windsor and Lake Windsor Country Club.

Ed married Janice (Stucki) in 1959 and had two sons, Erik and Jay. Later, two grandsons came along Paul and Sam to complete this branch of the Busse family tree.

Until 1963, Lake Windsor Country Club and the growing community was the pride of the family. After the sale of the Country Club, Ed went into real estate and spent the next 70 years helping people find homes of their dreams, and creating new communities in the Madison area, finally retiring in 2025.

As a young adult, Ed was quite an athlete, and his name may still be found in DeForest lore for cross country and boxing. In the winter months, you could find Ed bowling (he used to be a pinsetter when he was young, earning a penny for every pin set). His love for bowling continued into adulthood where he participated in various leagues and was often found following various sporting events as well.

Ed and Janice enjoyed participating in card clubs, mastering euchre and bridge. He loved teaching new card enthusiasts how to play euchre and cribbage.

But for those of you who know Ed, nothing, and I mean nothing, brought more joy, and a lot of suffering, than his love of playing and watching golf.

He loved buying new clubs and sending "birth announcements" to his friends, introducing them to his newest “child”, only to be traded in the next season for the next best thing.

He could recite the name, age, height, weight, and club distances for any professional golfer on tour and marveled at the game’s changes over the years. If you'd listen, he would be sure you knew everything about each player too.

If he wasn’t having coffee with friends, watching or playing golf in the summer, he would be participating in his other passion of following and watching Brewer baseball. He would spend summer nights sitting in his favorite chair listening to Bob Uecker and the Milwaukee Brewers – all while watching another show on TV and texting with his family about various plays; suggesting his ability to multi-task, only to fall asleep in the chair before 8:00pm most nights.

Most importantly, Ed will be remembered for his love of meeting people, organizing groups to come together for development projects, helping clients find their dream home or to share a quick-witted story and laugh with his fellow real estate and golfing partners. He was incredibly proud of his family heritage, his two sons and grandsons, often sharing stories of their successes.

Ed is survived by his son Erik (Kjersten); two grandchildren, Paul and Sam; sister Linda Luer, and brother Fred as well as several in-laws, nieces and nephews.

Ed was preceded in death by his wife Jan; son Jay; parents Melvin and Mae Busse; brothers Irvin, Jim, and Rich; and sisters Betty and Ann.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to Kianna, RN and Alexis, RN for their gentle and compassionate care to Ed and family, as well as the UW Health staff that help provide exceptional care to Ed during his final time on earth.

I’ll leave you with one word that my dad would use to describe something he was proud of or in awe of; I use the same word to best describe my dad’s life: “Special.”

A Memorial Service will be held at 5:00 P.M. on Friday, June 12, 2026, at Ryan Funeral Home, 6924 Lake Road, DeForest, WI. Visitation will be from 3:00 P.M. until the time of service at the Funeral Home.

Ryan Funeral Home & Cremation Services

Windsor/DeForest Chapel

Edward Busse

August 10, 1936 - June 06, 2026

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