ForeverMissed
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His Life
July 31, 2012

Bud was born in Wilmar, Ca on May 3, 1926 to Anne and Harold Ware.  He had two sisters, Virginia and Nancy. Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, he developed close bonds with a group of friends who he stayed in touch with his entire life. They enjoyed Boy Scouts together, where Bud became an Eagle Scout. He and his buddies spent hours working on their cars preparing their hot rods for cruise night.

Bud enlisted in the Navy at 17, following high school graduation, and was in pre-flight training at St. Mary's College, near Walnut Creek.  His continued training in Flagstaff, Az was cut short by the end of the war. The GI Bill afforded him the opportunity to attend UC Santa Barbara, where he met the love of his life, Joan Broadwell. She was swept off her feet by the tan, blond, blue-eyed upper classman with the powder blue convertible.

Bud and Joan secretly eloped and the family grew to include his new parents-in-law, Sam and Rosetta and brother-in-law Walter "Bud".  The newlyweds settled in Santa Barbara where Sally and John were born during which time Bud earned his Bachelors Degree in Mathematics. The family moved back to the San Gabriel valley where Bud earned his teaching credential at USC.

His first teaching position was in Mathematics at Sutter Jr. High School in Canoga Park, where he developed close friendships that lasted a lifetime. These friends introduced him to Topanga where the family, which now included Nancy, moved in 1954. Linda was born later that year.  His Sutter friends encouraged him to take the family on a year-long sabbatical to Europe, which was one of the highlights of his life. Topanga was a small, caring community where many close knit family ties were developed over the years.

His career took him to Paul Revere Jr. High School, where he was one of the founding faculty members. This is where he was first inspired to become a PE teacher. After a short stint at University High School, he became a founding member of the Palisades High school faculty. Bud taught math, PE, and coached tennis, basketball and football.

Bud loved teaching and made such an impact on the lives of his students that 30 to 40 years later, many still stay in touch. He has traveled as far away as Equador to visit a former student who became a very important part of his life. Bud was thrilled by a recent special reunion that was organized by former players on his tennis team. They traveled to Topanga from as far away as the East Coast to once again play tennis with Coach Ware.

Another highlight of his life was building his architecturally unique house, which was lovingly referred to as "Fort Ware".  Summers were spent as a family pouring cement, collecting local Topanga ironstone to embellish all the cement work around the house. One summer was spent on the roof nailing redwood shingles in place. The hot work days were followed by a picnic dinner at the beach and a swim to cool off.

After the kids left home, Bud and Joan took up West Coast Swing dancing and also took on the challenge of building their tennis court. Bud spent 8 hours a day with a jackhammer drilling holes in the bedrock, before hiring the locally famous Mr. Decker to set the 170 sticks of dynamite necessary to level the site. Mom and Dad enjoyed many happy hours sharing their love of tennis with friends, many of whom were former players on his teams. Bud especially enjoyed  his Wednesday's with the "Los Borrachos" tennis crew.

Sister Virginia and her husband David raised their family on the other coast.  Bud and Joan were blessed with many happy visits getting to know the Stowe families at Fort Ware.

In later years, Bud and Joan enjoyed traveling in their Dolphin camper. This became Buds "clubhouse", a.k.a "man cave".  Bud was an avid reader, loved gardening, dabbling in calligraphy, drawing and making silver jewelry. At 85, Bud remained active, still pushing his bike up to the top of Saddle Peak and riding home.

While adjusting to life without Joanie, his wife of 60 years, he attracted many new friends in his neighborhood, young and old alike. Bud never fully recovered from the loss of his sweetheart,  but was able to carry on with the love and support of family, and friends he had made over the course of his lifetime.