Bo Busby passes away
Austin Business Journal - 3:03 PM CST Monday


Bo Busby, the chairman of Hill Partners Corporate Services Inc., passed away on Sunday evening after a long battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 40.

Busby founded Hill Partners Corporate Services, a division of the company now known as HPI Real Estate Services & Investments Inc., in 2000. That same year he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. ALS destroys the body's neuromuscular system over time resulting in paralysis.


"Bo built up Corporate Services to what it is today, and it remains an evergreen operation," says Richard Hill, partner and co-founder of HPI. "Bo was a great partner and a great friend as well. He had a lot of loyalty around the community and the office as well."

"If I were cured tomorrow, I don't think I would change the way I approach life--as a precious gift," Busby said in a June 2005 interview. "Every day isn't earned, it's a gift."

"I'm dealing with the frustrations of not being able to do things I used to be able to do," Busby said. "I gave up golf, fishing, riding bikes with the kids, snow skiing..." He added that the diagnosis had led him to take stock of what matters most. "Today, I'm content with today."

Busby is survived by his wife, Kerri, and daughters, Madeline and Abigail.

"Bo faced his illness with a courage and selflessness I have never encountered elsewhere in my life," says Volney Campbell, co-managing partner of corporate services. "The example he put before us facing death is the example all of us should use to live our lives going forward. He did not let adversity weigh him down, and his charity towards others has inspired many, including me, to strive to emulate those qualities."

In April 2005 employees with Hill Partners launched The Busby Foundation, in honor of their colleague. The foundation held biannual crawfish boils to raise money for Central Texans coping with ALS and their families.

"Obviously, it's very flattering to have your peers and friends step up and form this in your name and carry forward my legacy, whatever that may be," Busby said in an interview at the time. "But even before this, the last five years, they've been behind me the whole way."

According to a Web site on ALS, about 13 cases of the disease are diagnosed each day nationwide. Most of those who develop the disease are between 40 and 70 years of age. The average expected survival time for those suffering from ALS is three to five years. At any given time, approximately 30,000 people in the United States are living with the disease.