Jobe Everline

*Harmonica music by Buzzy Everline*

Jobe Gilbert (Buzzy)  Everline, age 96, died on July 10, 2019 at Homewood of Williamsport, where he resided for two years.  He was known by family as Bus and by most of his friends and acquaintances as Buzzy. Born in Cumberland, MD, February 26, 1923, he was the third child and second son of George Austin Everline and Goldie Burkett Everline.  He was raised in Halfway, MD and lived most of his adult life in the Boonsboro area.
He was preceded in death by the love of his life and wife of 69 years, Frances (Frankie) Ford Everline and their infant son Stephen; by his brother, Hugh; and sister, Betty Everline Jump and his parents.  He is survived by his sister, Janet Everline Roberts; daughter, Kathy Everline Berry and husband, Michael, of Austin, TX, daughter, Penny Everline Friddle and husband, Charles, of Elkins, WV, son John Everline and partner, Irene Ellis, of Keedysville, MD;  grandsons, Scott Berry, Mark Berry, Chip Friddle, Brooks Everline and Dylan Ellis; granddaughter, Kate Friddle Reed; great-grandchildren, Madeleine Berry, Blanca Berry, Bryce Everline, Allison Berry, Peyton Miller, Kyle Reed, Camden Everline, Jackson Friddle and Charlotte Reed; and several nieces and nephews.
Buzzy attended schools in Halfway and Hagerstown, graduating from Hagerstown High School in 1940. Beginning at an early age, he and his brother Hugh delivered newspapers, worked on local farms and even helped set up the circus when it came to town.  It was during those youthful work experiences that he developed a lifelong love of horses and riding. He owned several horses from the late 1950's through the 1990's, usually training them himself.
After high school he worked at Fairchild Aircraft and was there during the transition from civilian planes to military trainer fabrication. In January, 1943 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he spent the remainder of World War II as a signalman on cargo ships carrying arms and supplies from the United States and South America to the troops in Europe and Africa.  It was on a short leave in March, 1943, that Buzzy and Frankie were married.
After VE day, his ship was headed to the Pacific to help the war effort there. The day they docked in Honolulu, was the day the Japanese surrendered and the war ended.
Following the war, Buzzy and Frankie made their home in Boonsboro and Buzzy went to work at Potomac Edison. Except for a year back at Fairchild as an illustrator, he was employed at "P.E." for the rest of his working life, serving as a meter reader, service man lineman, and manager of branch offices in Boonsboro and in Petersburg and Moorefield, WV.   His final position before retirement was at the General  Office in Hagerstown where he directed the lineman training program and underground fault detection unit.    In the 1950's and '60's, Buzzy was often the person people called in the Boonsboro area when they lost power in their homes.  The favorite parts of his job experiences were the people he met and the good friends he made.
In 1954 he and Frankie bought an old abandoned house at 40 Saint Paul Street in
Boonsboro, once known as Weldon Hall - after the original Lord Baltimore land grant "Well Done." They spent two arduous years restoring it to its former beauty, mostly by Buzzy's own hard work and skills and the help of many friends and relatives. He often returned the favors by helping others with their own home improvement projects.
Buzzy was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Boonsboro until 2017.  During over 70 years there he taught adult and youth Sunday School, served on the church council, sang in the choir, led the youth group and volunteered on many committees.  He was Boonsboro Troop 20's first Boy Scout leader, a position he held for five years. He held offices in the local PTA and became a classroom volunteer at Boonsboro Elementary School after retirement. He was a Lions Club member and president, a boys Babe Ruth Baseball coach and a member of the Washington County Parks Board where he was instrumental in the establishment of Devil's Backbone Park. He was elected to the Boonsboro town council and served as assistant mayor in the early 1960's, helping establish the first wastewater treatment system and bringing the London Fog factory to town. During his time in Petersburg, he was also active in several civic enterprises.
In 2008 Buzzy was one of three people selected by the Community Foundation of Washington County and presented with their annual People's Choice Awards, honoring their volunteer contributions of time and talent to the betterment of life in Washington County.
Buzzy looked at every new opportunity as an adventure and every problem as a challenge to overcome. He was a can-do person who thrived on making things better than he found them; from turning a plot of barren ground into a flourishing garden, to transforming a piece of dead wood into a doll cradle or a deftly carved sculpture. He left a legacy of fine amateur paintings, drawings and carvings and brought smiles to many a sad face by playing favorite songs on his ever-present harmonica. With earnest care and dedication he would mend a child's broken toy or repair a friend's stove; help bring the lights back on in a storm-darkened community or devotedly help his wife regain her health and enjoyment of life after a severe stroke in 1987.
Buzzy Everline lived his life to the fullest, with optimism, enthusiasm and a generous heart. He loved life, loved people and loved learning.  Most of all, he loved his family, and we loved him.  Go with God, Daddy.
Visitation will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, July 19, 2019 at Bast-Stauffer Funeral Home, 7606 Old National Pike, Boonsboro. The funeral service will follow at 11 a.m. on Friday at the funeral home. Rev. R. Thomas Fralin, Jr. will officiate. Military honors will be rendered by the Clopper-Michael American Legion Post 10 in Boonsboro. A time of fellowship and gathering will be held at the Boonsboro American Legion Post 10 immediately following services.
Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association at www.act.alz.org.
Expressions of sympathy may be offered to the family at www.staufferfuneralhome.com.