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Harold “Bud” Bickford Jr.
To plant a tree in memory of Harold Bickford, Jr. as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.
Harold “Bud” Bickford Jr.
To plant a tree in memory of Harold Bickford, Jr. as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.
Harold “Bud” Bickford Jr. was born May 16, 1929, in Milwaukee, Wisc., to Harold Bickford Sr. and Edna Kavel. Raised in Green Bay, Wisc., Bud was a lifelong Packer fan and cheese head. He attended Beloit College, playing football, running track, and joining the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, while working in the cafeteria and majoring in chemistry. There he met his first wife, Molly Simpson. They married in 1954.
Bud became a research chemist for Pure Oil Company in Crystal Lake, Ill., specializing in gas chromatography. He joined the Pure Oil men’s glee club and often came home singing a tune. He loved to make things and invent gadgets in the garage. Each year he would construct a backyard skating rink for the family. He and Molly took up canoeing the rivers of Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
In 1964 Pure Oil, was bought by Union Oil, and the family moved to Placentia, Calif. Their new home had a backyard pool and Bud invented an automatic pool vacuum, as well as a kite winding machine. He made and flew a 6-foot kite, then an 8-foot kite. He constructed animatronic decorations for the house on Halloween. One was a giant spider that moved when tricker treaters approached. The family enjoyed backpack trips in the Sierra Nevada Range, and camping in the desert and at the beach. During one backpack trip in 1973, his wife Molly died in the mountains. It was a difficult time after that, to complete the raising of two teenagers, and continue to provide for the family, but he did it.
In 1983, Bud married his third wife, June. They were very happy for many years and lived in Anaheim and Westlake Village, Calif. He sang in the local church choir. June and Bud traveled extensively, to Europe, Russia, Mexico, Greece and China, and enjoyed gathering both their families together. He taught himself magic, and performed many an impressive trick. He became a magician in residence for the yearly Big Event for Little Kids in Green Bay. He loved to entertain people, either by singing, telling a joke or performing feats of magic. June died in 2002.
In 2015, Bud moved to Hood River, close to his daughter. He joined the Riverside Community Church and happily sang in their choir, continuing until he was unable to attend church anymore, well into his 90s. He practiced magic until arthritis took his dexterity. He tried very hard to maintain his positive outlook until the end. “Bloom where you are planted” was tacked upon his refrigerator door. He died April 8, 2022
Bud leaves behind son Jay Bickford of Anchorage, Alaska, and his wife Colleen, and Jenny Ouzounian of Hood River, Ore., and her husband Dave. He maintained connections with June’s children Karen Kruger of Baltimore, deceased, and Tim Kruger of Ventura, Calif. In addition are grandkids Riley and Ryan Bickford, and Emma Ouzounian, as well as June’s grandkids Jack Kruger, Kaitlyn Kruger, Kristen Buyler, and Annie Lacher.
To plant a tree in memory of Harold Bickford, Jr. as a living tribute, please visit Tribute Store.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.