on criminal justice reforms. “Robyn could envision a more just world and understood that to get there one had to believe, work hard, be tenacious and inventive,” Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, said in a tribute. “Our gift was that we met and got to work with Robyn, an extraordinary person who touched so many lives.”
Throughout her career, Ms. Buseman strove to find innovative and effective methods to turn retribution into rehabilitation. She said in 2008 that she wanted “for people to realize that people do make mistakes. And while some have committed horrible things, they should be viewed as humans. It’s about education, rehabilitation and leading people to regain purpose and focus. Perpetrator or victim, everyone suffers.
She became one of the first women to work at a refinery for the Union Oil Co. in California, met John Williams, and they had daughters Maya, Janine, and Anna, and relocated to West Chester. Maya died earlier.Ms. Buseman earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at West Chester University in 1985 and, while working full-time, received a master’s degree in administration of justice from Shippensburg University in 1993.
She loved live music, was a huge Eagles fan, and volunteered as a local judge of elections. A master gardener, she and Kreider turned their property into a bird-friendly habitat full of native plants.