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- The Union, Nevada County, California
Local News, November 6, 2013
Former Nevada City resident ?Bud? Bassett remembered
By Staff Writer Jennifer Terman
Some friends of Howard ?Bud? Bassett, a former longtime resident of Nevada City, were saddened to hear word of his death in a Mogollon, N.M. flash flood in late September.
Bassett, who died at the age of 83, lived in Nevada County from the 1970s until the 1990s, said his former neighbor and close friend Marilyn Tubbs of Nevada City.
While in Nevada County, Bassett partook in his life?s passion of history and antiques, Tubbs said. He bought the inventory in old mercantile stores and operated a mail-order antique business.
?He would buy the inventory, a lot of old vintage historical signs and advertising. That was his big passion,? she said, adding the Smithsonian had called to ask about acquiring his compilations. ?He had one of the country?s most spectacular collections.?
Bassett could be seen at obscure antique trade shows that would require traveling about 1,200 miles away, Tubbs said.
?He had a real passion for old mining towns,? she said. ?I think that was why he liked Nevada County. He loved the history of this old area here and had a real big passion for it.?
Though Bassett had not lived locally for decades, he did keep in touch with Nevada County residents, Tubbs said.
?He was a very modest man and a lot of people knew him,? she said.
Upon word of his death, Tubbs said she was ?devastated,? especially taking into consideration what a strong and active man he was, who seemed years younger than his actual age.
?I had no idea he was in his 80s. I really thought of him as in his early 70s,? she said, adding he was shot down in a helicopter twice in Vietnam and also underwent a bout of cancer in the 1980s, when he was told he only had six months to live.
?He wouldn?t take no for an answer and sought out another doctor,? Tubbs said. ?He survived all of that.?
Bassett moved to Prescott, Ariz., with his wife, Sally, in 1992, according to the Arizona-based Prescott Daily Courier. The Daily Courier included that Bassett was born in Berkeley and received a bachelor?s degree in paleontology from University of California, Berkeley and his master?s degree in fisheries biology at the University of Colorado at Ft. Collins.
The paper also includes that Bassett earned 23 medals during his tour with the Arizona Army Guard as a Chinook helicopter pilot from 1966 to 1967. He came home with 15 Air Medals, two Air Medals with a ?V? for valor, one Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism, two Bronze Stars, two Army commendation medals, and a Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry.
Bassett?s survivors include his daughters, Jan Wardle and her husband, Scott, and Sally Day; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The family suggests donations in Bassett?s name to United Animal Friends, P.O. Box 11133, Prescott AZ 86304 or the Yavapai Humane Society, 1625 Sundog Ranch Road, Prescott AZ 86301.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1930 - 2013 (83 years)