Maureen "Gusti" Lamb Buhrman

Gusti Lamb Buhrman died Sunday, November 19th at 6:26 A.M. Her two daughters were by her side. In Gusti’s final days, her family took turns holding her perfect hands and marveling at her blue eyes. They laughed and cried and told her they loved her. It was a beautiful and heart-breaking finale to 85 joyful, colorful years. When she was in her 70s, Gusti started dying her hair hot pink. She said red was too hard to keep up with and white was boring. Her pink hair made her happy, and incredibly easy to find in a crowd. Recently, after chemo treatments left her bald, she took her wigs to her hairdresser to dye those pink too. Maureen Kathleen Lamb was born on April 14th, 1938 in West Hartford, Connecticut, the fourth of James and Josephine Lamb’s five daughters. Her father thought she had a nose like her Uncle Gus and nicknamed her Gusti. It stuck. So much so that if you called her Maureen she wouldn’t realize you were talking to her. Gusti and her sisters were raised in Norwalk, Connecticut. She graduated from Norwalk High School in 1956. Gusti was proud to be a Lamb girl. Over the years she filled her numerous homes with sheep decor. Gusti attended Rosemont College in Pennsylvania. When she called home one day, anxious to tell her mother she didn’t want to study a STEM field like her sisters, her mother cried tears of joy. In 1960, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in art. There was no limit to what Gusti could create. Paintings, prints, sea glass sculptures, stained glass. Her art hangs in the homes of family and strangers. She embellished plain furniture with colorful accents. One of her granddaughters got Gusti’s work as a tattoo, and Gusti happily accompanied her to the appointment. At a Christmas party in Norwalk in 1958, Gusti met a handsome and… spirited man named Charlie Buhrman. They married at St. Andrews Church in Fort Huachuca, Arizona on November 26th, 1960. A lifelong Democrat, Gusti made a deal with the crowd at the El Tanky bar in Tuscon that anyone who voted for John F. Kennedy would be welcome at her wedding. Some patrons took her up on the offer and the reception was a romp. Gusti had the patience of a saint, and her 63-year marriage to Charlie is all the proof of that you’ll need. The young couple lived all over the country with their growing family. In Connecticut, they had their first three kids, Chuck, Sheridan, and Maureen. Gusti hated living in Michigan and often said the only good thing that came out of their time there was the arrival of their daughter Lucy. One summer, while vacationing in Higgins Beach, Maine, Gusti and Charlie got the call that their baby was ready to be picked up. They hopped in the car and returned a few hours later with their son Linus, completing their family of seven. They settled in Fremont, New Hampshire, and remained there for more than 30 years. They kept horses, chickens, sheep, cats, guinea pigs, and a goat. Gusti established an art program at Fremont Elementary and worked as an art teacher at Sacred Heart School in Hampton. It was a good thing Charlie could cook because Gusti was a disaster in the kitchen. Charlie loved to buy jewelry for Gusti. He always brought her souvenirs from his business trips. They traveled the world together. They adored each other. Gusti got her first and only tattoo in honor of her 50th wedding anniversary. A sunflower, on her foot, with a 50 in the middle. She encouraged her children to be exactly who they were. She taught them how to be good mothers and fathers. At every one of her kids’ weddings, she requested they play “We Are Family” and make them all dance with her. In 1995, her first grandchild was born and Gusti officially became Bama. She was Bama to 12 grandkids and two granddaughters-in-law. She was eagerly awaiting the arrival of her first great-grandchild, a boy, due in January 2024. Just before Gusti died, Samantha, her beloved granddaughter-in-law, shared the name of her baby boy with his Bama, swearing her to secrecy. We’re hoping they’ll go with Herman Buhrman. Gusti was a good Catholic girl and was always active in her church. She’d sing hymns at the top of her lungs, even though she was tone-deaf. One Easter, when the family woke up to a blizzard, Gusti pressed white bread into makeshift Eucharists and held mass in her living room. If it was colder than 70 degrees out, Gusti had a jacket on. She and Charlie spent their winters down in Cape Canaveral, Florida. She loved to ride around in the sun on her pink motorized tricycle and thought the pelicans were a hoot. She owned hundreds of pairs of flip-flops. She believed saltwater could cure anything. The great love of Gusti’s Golden Years was pickleball. She discovered it while living in Florida, and established a league in Plymouth and Rumney. She was a weapon on the court. Her grandkids were proud on the rare occasion they beat her. Long story short, we’re really going to miss her. Gusti was welcomed into Heaven by her son Linus, her mom and dad, sisters Helen and Ann-Marie, and many dear friends. Her husband Charlie, children Chuck (Christine), Sheridan (Patty), Maureen (John), and Lucy (Ron), sisters Glenn and Joie, grandchildren, great-grandchild, and her dog, Rosie, will keep the party going down here. Gusti’s celebration of life will be in the Spring of 2024. More information on that later. In the meantime, if you’d like to honor Gusti, we suggest you plant sunflowers, wear pink, enjoy a stiff drink, and donate to The Linus Buhrman ‘93 Scholarship Fund at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, New Hampshire. She’d get a kick out of that.

Tributes

Maureen "Gusti" Lamb Buhrman

April 14, 1938 - November 19, 2023