orman George Buettner W8WBR *1917-2002* Born 8 May 1917 St. Cloud MN to John andMary A. Buettner. Norm a former temporary Cambridge and Zanesville Ohio resident serving
the FAA, also USAID program and assigned to U.S. Navy during war time. Norm came from a large
family in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

NNorman earned his amateur radio license in Ohio
approximately two years after local operator Clancy
Waller W8RVU did in 1938. It should be noted theCAA/FAA Air Facility at the original Cambridge
Airport relocated to Zanesville in 1945. The relocationgave better radio conditions and approach to small andlarger aircraft alike. This is the kind of engineering oursubject was capable of and more.
Buettner appeared in the 40's Cambridge Ohio city
directory residing at 1012 Clark Street, an FAA
employee. Norm issued the ham radio call of W8WBR
in the 1946-47 Ham radio roster. There was no listingunder Buettner in the 1949 call book and we lost track of our
subject at that point. Eventually Buettner’s W8WBR call wasreissued. I happily note Clark Street is where our Ballantine
family home was situated and author was partially raised. Note;
1012 Clark is now Dehay’s Appraisals.
I wrote to Mrs. Odette Buettner in Minneapolis 30 Nov 2007
inquiring about Norm and if anyone could advise me as to whatbecame of our one time Cambridge radio man. We will show thishas been a long difficult trip through time but due to the generosityof Kate Ketcham from the Central Library in Minneapolis, andmany others, we finally identified Mr. Buettner. He was one of theearly remaining Cambridge regional wireless radio boys toidentify. I should also mention encouragement and help fromfriend Chuck Johnston in Columbus who enjoys ancestry research.
Mr. Buettner’s dedicated and interesting life follows, as we were
finally in contact with Norm’s son Claude in the Minneapolis area.
Minneapolis Star Tribune 4-15-02 obit article. W8SU 2007
Continued.

orman G. Buettner W8WBR - Of a family of 11 kids and the oldest child reared in St. Cloud
MN. His first job in the career path was the Weather Bureau in the small St. Cloud Airport. His
dream was to attend college at St. John’s not far from St. Cloud. Unfortunately the depression put
an end to those plans. Entering the FAA around 1937, known then as Civil Aeronautics Admin.,then came the war years and Norm was attached to the U.S. Navy under their jurisdiction. He wasstationed stateside as well as the Aleutian Islands. The unfortunate thing about attached to the U.S.
Navy as a civilian, being ineligible for G.I. benefits. One of his early air port assignments was South
Bend Indiana. Later, Norman applied for USAID position and received it, serving overseas in theforeign service. He excelled in air control navigation aids and traveled the world with his family.

NPictured Norm working on supervisory projects
in the Chicago office of FAA 1974. Below lefttaken at the Wailing Wall 1962, Odette,Chantal, Norm, John and Claude. Below rightNorm and Odette in 1994

Claude Buettner son of W8WBR, resides Eden Prairie, Minn., was very helpful with this family
history and contributed many outstanding photographs via CD-Rom. His friendly and willing to help
attitude made such a difference in our story. There were slight lapses of knowledge of CAA
assignments mid 40s where Mr Buettner was temporarily assigned to FSS Cambridge Ohio.
Mr. Buettner re-entered the FAA from his days of service of the USAID program in supervisory
status and completed his talented career in Minneapolis. He was able to earn his degree inElectronics Engineering but only after becoming a family man and going to night school inOklahoma City in the 1950s. Claude describes his father’s memorial spot at rest in 2002, EdenPrairie a short distance away from the glide path of Flying Cloud Airport. The daily activity at theairport can be easily heard, befitting to a wonderful father and companion. Claude is truly gratefulfor his dad’s teaching ethic and academic interests.
W8SU 2008