Pastor Edward E. Busch went to be with the Lord peacefully on February 9, 2019 at the age of 87. Born on April 11, 1931 in San Diego to Leonard and Ester Busch, he grew up in La Mesa, CA.  He attended St. Johns College in Winfield, Kansas and then Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, graduating in 1956. While on his internship in Brooklyn, NY he married Dona Jean (Dobie) Dobelstein.

His first call was to two LCMS mission congregations: Peace in Greencastle, Indiana and Holy Cross in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he was ordained on July 1, 1956. He then served as assistant pastor at Emmaus in Denver, Colorado and then at Redeemer in Colorado Springs. 

After suffering a series of seizures, he resigned in 1968 and returned with his family to La Mesa for a period of recovery. In 1973 he earned his Ph.D in Religion at Claremont Graduate School.  In the meantime, he was called to Hope, Glendora, CA (LCMS) in 1971.  Rev. Busch left Hope after the 1973 Missouri Synod convention, where as a delegate he spoke in favor of members of the St. Louis faculty, who were being branded as "false teachers."  

A number of the members of Hope decided to start a new church in La Verne and called Rev. Busch as their pastor.  He served at Our Savior Lutheran Church (later Rock of the Foothills) from 1975 to 1991 as part of the AELC, then the LCA, and finally the ELCA.  He then served as the Chaplain Pastor at Solheim Lutheran Home and Church.

After retiring in 2001, Edward and Dona Jean Busch joined Salem Lutheran in Glendale. Rev. Busch served as interim at Salem; Emmanuel, North Hollywood; Church of Hope, Canyon Country; and Holy Shepherd, Chatsworth.  He continued to make shut-in calls, teach Bible classes, and be active in the ministry of Salem.

Pastor Edward and Dona Jean, who passed away in 2002, were blessed with a daughter, a son, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.