Joshua Steven Buss was born on July 20, 1988.  He was an extremely happy baby and did everything on his own.  He taught himself to walk and would not accept any hand holding!   He continued that throughout his life.   Joshua was not involved in sports growing up because of his severe asthma, but he loved Duke basketball.  His pastimes were (in order of importance) his children,  motorcycles, music,  and his friends.   Joshua was could watch one YouTube video and repair or replace a nonfunctional well pump.  He taught himself how to do more than things than can be counted.   Joshua never met a stranger!  He loved people, animals, and most importantly, he loved to help people.  Joshua's smile and big blue eyes defined his handsome looks, but he was always available to help his friends.    

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When Joshua was 13, his only real father figure, his maternal grandfather passed away from a heart attack.   Prior to his death, Joshua's grandfather was being evaluated for a heart transplant; however, he did not live long enough to actualize that.   That adverse childhood event completely obliterated Joshua's reality and world.   He began to suffer from depression.  At 13, he entered a new school and unfortunately made some poor friend choices, who played a role in his experimentation with drugs.  Over the next 15 years, Joshua would struggle with depression and addiction.  He successfully completed a medication assisted treatment program, and through it all, he never lost focus on what was most important-his children.   

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Joshua's children,  Kaidence, Aiden, and Ember were and still are the most important people in his life.   Kaidence Madison Buss, his oldest child, was born June 9, 2008.    Ember Grace Moore was born in December 6, 2009.     His youngest child was born August 5,  2018.    He had sole custody of Kaidence and Aiden and visited with Ember often.

 

      On August 2, 2018, Joshua was the victim of drug toxicity related homicide -at the hand of a family member and "friends."   He went without CPR for more than 20 minutes, and as a result, he suffered irreversible brain damage.    Despite being without oxygen for a long

  period of time, his heart was strong.  Because Joshua's grandfather died awaiting heart

  transplantation, he said that he wanted his organs to be donated to people who needed

     the On August 4, 2018,  official brain death was declared. Because we did not want

      Aiden to always have his birthday associated with his dad's death, we elected to wait

        until August 6, 2018 to donate his organs.  We were able to donate his heart,

          kidneys, and liver to 4 amazingly fortunate people who we hope cherish his gift

             every single day.  ​

 

Joshua's motto was:

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Remain Humble. 

Have Faith. 

Love Deeply.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could not have chosen a better theme for this Foundation; therefore, those are, and will always be, our guiding words and principles.   

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This Foundation was created to ensure Joshua's death was not in vain, to preserve his legacy, and to provide support for the community in which he lived and loved.