His father (Arthur Emil Busch) was a German migrant pork butcher, his mother Harriet (Nee Beck) had been born in Queensland.
Busch grew up in Toowoomba, and got a job as a telegram boy at age 15 to help support the family during the Great Depression.
[1] His qualifications included: When he was ordained, Busch was inducted into pastoral charge of St Giles's church at Yeerongpilly in Brisbane.
His criticism was voiced against the Queensland government's denial of self-determination to the Aboriginal inhabitants of Aumkun and Mornington Island [1],[1] pitting him against Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen on several occasions.
On 14 August 1948 at St John's Church of England, Penshurst, Sydney, he married Evelyn Mavis Smith, a nurse whom he had met in New Guinea during the war.
Both Ian and Rhonda's Husband (Ray) have served on the boards of the UCA Queensland Synod and Wesley Hospital.