Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bua was in the United States Army in 1943.

He received a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law in 1953.

He was the Presiding Judge of the Melrose Park Village Court in Illinois in 1963.

Bua was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on July 19, 1977, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois vacated by Judge William Joseph Lynch.

[1] Bua died on November 1, 2002, in Melrose Park, Illinois.