Martin John Buss

Martin J. Buss died November 8, 2022, at the age of 92. He was born November 4, 1930, in Shaoyang in the Hunan province of China, where his parents were German missionaries. The family moved to the United States in January 1947, after two years of travelling as refugees in China. Martin attended Bloomfield College in New Jersey, graduating in 1951. He then attended Princeton Theological Seminary beginning in 1953, where he met his future wife, fellow student Nancy Macpherson. They married in 1954. After graduating from seminary, Martin was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He never had a church, but he occasionally performed marriages, including those of his two sons. He earned a PhD in Religion from Yale University in 1957 and became a college professor, beginning with positions at Macalester College in St. Paul and Coe College in Cedar Rapids.  In 1959, he joined the faculty of the Department of Religion at Emory University in Atlanta, where he remained until his retirement in 2007. He continued to be active in retirement with research and writing, publishing a total of six books during retirement, including a final book that appeared early in 2022. His specialty was the Hebrew Bible and form criticism, but his scholarly interests included comparative religion and the moral aspects of everyday life.

He enjoyed classical music, frequently attending the Atlanta Symphony. And he faithfully attended his wife’s recorder concerts.

He was preceded in death by his wife Nancy Macpherson Buss who passed away in May of this year. He is survived by his four children, Sam, Jonathan, Mary Aileen, and Jeanne Buss; two daughters-in-law, Teresa Buss and Deaun Moulton; two grandchildren, Stephanie and Ian Buss; and a great-granddaughter, Maya Buss-Johnson.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Oakhurst Presbyterian Church (Decatur) or the Friends of Refugees (Clarkston).