Dr. Oscar en Buros

Dr. Oscar Krisen (Kris) Buros, 82, of Aurora, Colorado passed peacefully early Christmas morning, December 25^th at the local Denver Hospice facility, due to complications from cancer. He was born March 1936 in White Plains, NY to Francis and Jennie Buros.

Kris finished high school in White Plains and then spent an undistinguished year at Colorado Mines which was followed by four years in the US Navy serving on minesweepers. At the time of discharge he held the rank of Petty Officer First Class. Properly inspired by his navy experience he returned to academia and completed his BS degree in Civil Engineering at Washington State University (WSU) in 1962.

On graduation he worked for 2.5 years on construction projects in the Western USA. With money from working after the Alaska earthquake in 1964 he quit his job and started on started on a three year journey around the world covering about 80 countries and five continents. He had many adventures including a ship wreck on the Ucauli River in Peru; descending the Amazon; hitch hiking from Algiers to Capetown (200 days) including crossing the Sahara Desert on a date truck; traveling across the USSR on the trans-Siberian railroad; and crossing Afghanistan from Pakistan to Iran via the Khyber Pass.

Returning home in 1968 with meager job opportunities he decided to return to graduate school to obscure his travel years. He obtained a fellowship from WSU and completed a MS in Civil Engineering in 1969. This was followed with a fellowship at the University of Florida to study for his doctorate in Environmental Engineering. His research was on an EPA-funded water reuse program on the island of St. Croix. He was employed by the firm BC&E for the project. He moved to St. Croix and worked on the reuse project plus many more water related projects in the islands and stayed for five years. On St. Croix he met his future wife, Sheila Fullam who was teaching music at a local private school. They were married in 1974 and lived on St. Croix until 1976 in a house overlooking the town of Christiansted. The marriage lasted for 43 happy and adventurous years. He obtained his PhD from UF in 1975.

They moved to Gainesville, FL in 1976 where Kris continued working for BC&E which within a year was purchased by CH2M HILL. In Gainesville Kris was the manager of the water resources group. He continued on projects in the Caribbean and other international work. In 1993 Kris was transferred to Denver to work for CH2M International Services (CHIS). He worked mostly on projects in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This included an eight year assignment on a water program in Ukraine. Kris retired in 2003 from CHIS as a Vice President. Three months later he was rehired to work part time for the next six years on projects mostly in the Middle East.

Once Kris retired from full time work they started traveling for fun. They did a number of trips to Europe including going back to Ukraine and Ireland where Sheila's grandfather was born. Then they expanded to doing cruises and had completed 16 of them at the time of Sheila's passing in 2017. Their last trip together was a cruise to the Falkland Islands and Antarctica. They also traveled extensively around the USA to visit friends and relatives. Over the years Kris traveled to about 120 countries and all seven continents. He loved to travel and life was a big adventure for him.

After retirement from full time work, he learned how to fly fish and volunteered with Trout Unlimited on various projects involving stream maintenance and water quality testing. One of his favorite retirement activities was the Friday luncheons of the DU Discussion Group held at the University of Denver Physics Building.

Kris was preceded in death by his brother Robert and is survived by his sister, Julie Smith of Hanover, NH; his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Buros; Mike, Karin & Pat Fullam (in-laws) in Mifflinburg, PA & Las Vegas; plus numerous cousins, nieces & nephews.

A memorial reception to celebrate Kris' life will be held on Saturday January 26^th at Horan & McConaty, 5303 East County Line Road, Centennial, CO from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Dress is casual. He will be cremated and buried in Section 40 with his wife in the Fort Logan National (Military Veterans) Cemetery in Denver on Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.. It is a beautiful place; please drop by for a visit.

Please share memories of Kris and condolence messages with his family below.

Memorial Reception: January 26, 2019 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Horan & McConaty - South Metro/Centennial
5303 E County Line Rd
Centennial, CO 80122

Committal Service: January 28, 2019 10:00 am

Fort Logan National Cemetery
3698 South Sheridan Boulevard
Denver, CO 80236
(303) 761-0117
https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftlogan.asp