Conway “Bud” Southard

Conway “Bud” Southard

Cedar Rapids

Conway “Bud” Southard of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Emporia, Kan., was one day shy of his 92nd birthday when he died Dec. 25, 2022.

Raised in Waukesha, Wis., he joined the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 17. Back from service in the Korean War, he worked and went to school, achieving his bachelor's in engineering.

During that time, he met Georgiana Burmeister and they married in 1956. Shortly after, they moved to Cedar Rapids, where they made a good home and raised their three children: Steve (Gail), Stewart and Anne (Michael Chapman).

Bud spent most of his engineering years at Rockwell Collins and retired in 1992. At that time and after, he enjoyed other varieties of work and play: teaching and mentoring in the field of computers, facilitating Driver Improvement and OWI classes, and Ham radio. His greatest joy in retirement was teaching motorcycle safety classes and sharing his joy of motorcycling.

Bud was twice lucky in love. After Georgia’s death in 1995, he met Belinda Schlesener, who, like Bud, had great fun motorcycling, bicycling and learning anything new. They traveled together and often went to learning hostels, coming home with new information and new hobbies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bud moved to Emporia with Belinda where they worked on her farm. Bud liked dealing with machinery and being out in nature.

In his last days, Bud was visited by family and friends and was happy at home.