Naomi Jane Buzard, a beloved Freeland resident who once auditioned for the role of Dorothy in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” and ran in the same circles as legendary stars such as Clark Gable and Bob Hope, passed away Oct. 27.
She was 89.
Buzard was born Naomi Jane Wheat in Seattle on May 5, 1922. At age 17, her mother brought her to Hollywood, Calif. to audition for the role of the windswept, Kansas farm girl later claimed by Judy Garland in the MGM classic.
Clinton resident Lily Tucker said Buzard was a close friend and shared many stories of her days in Hollywood.
“She began singing when she was 3 years old. Her mother was quite a pusher,” Tucker said Tuesday.
Tucker said she met Buzard at a bingo game and called her friend almost every day. Of course, the former singer had plenty of great stories to share. Buzard told Tucker about movie star Clark Gable purposefully bumping her car with his while driving in Tinseltown. She was also acquainted with the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy and cherished a letter she still had from Stan Laurel. She also performed with Gene Autry, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bob Hope.
Buzard was married to Walter H. Foote for 45 years. After his passing, she married Brig. Gen. Lyman E. Buzard.
Tucker met Buzard shortly after she married the general.
“She was one of my very best friends,” Tucker said.
Tucker, who will be 95 next month, began to cry as she talked about her friend and recalled how, when Buzard began attending the Bayview Senior Center, she took over the role of welcoming everyone to the center. She was the official lively greeter, Tucker said, and eventually received a plaque from the organization for her hospitality.
Seattle’s “King of Scandinavian Humor” Stan Boreson also remembers Buzard’s talent and kind friendship.
“We had Naomi on our TV show. She was a wonderful singer who used to sing with the Frank Sugia Trio at the Olympic Hotel,” Boreson said.
“She was a very popular person around town,” he added.
On the Washington Historical Society website there is a collection of memorabilia from the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. One postcard advertises a record made by “Frank Sugia Trio and Naomi” featuring the song “Come and See Seattle.”
Boreson said he and Buzard enjoyed singing “I Love You a Bushel and a Peck” as a duet.
“We usually always did that one together.”
Boreson said that years after Walter Foote died, Buzard met her future husband, an Air Force general whose wife had died of cancer just as Foote had. They consoled each other and eventually fell in love.
“He had a home on Whidbey Island and when Naomi married him she moved to the island. But we continued to talk on the phone,” he said.
Buzard was featured as a South Whidbey Record Hometown Hero in 2003. In the article written about her then, she revealed a favorite quote: “What we do for ourselves dies with us, but what we do for others remains, and is immortal.”
It was that selfless, joyful nature that her friends speak of when describing the bright light that was Buzard.
She was a wonderful person, Tucker said.
“I will miss her. I will just miss her, period,” she said.
Buzard will be cremated and requested that no service be held.
She is survived by her three children, Kelly Foote and wife Shirley, Walter H. Foote Jr. and Naomi J. Vyrostek and her husband Henry; grandchildren Traci Arkell, Naomi Lucente, Robin Weigel and Rachael Guntle and family; great-grandchildren Erica Lucente and Hayley Button; countless Wheats; and her cat, K.C.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation at PO Box 1108, Coupeville, WA 98239 or Bayview Senior Center at 14594 SR 525, Langley, WA 98260.
