Robert J. “Buddy” Madison was a native and longtime resident of Slidell. Born on March 24, 1920, he passed away on Aug. 29 at 88 years of age.

Buddy graduated from Slidell High School, where he received the “Best Athlete Award.” Buddy graduated from Pearl River Community College on a football and baseball scholarship and later was inducted into the PRCC Sports Hall of Fame. Buddy graduated from Southeastern Louisiana College with a B.S. in Science Education and received his M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Southern Mississippi.

He played with the Andalusia Rams, the minor league team for the St. Louis Cardinals, until a knee injury caused his early retirement from baseball. A U.S. Army Air Corps veteran serving during WWII, Buddy taught chemistry and physics in Morgan City and at Slidell High School and mathematics at William Carey College and was an assistant professor of computer science at Southeastern Louisiana University. Buddy was one of the founding members of Aldersgate Methodist Church. He was an avid golfer and ballroom dancer and was active in the Slidell GOSH, SHS Alumni Association and PRCC Alumni Association.

Recently he fulfilled a lifelong dream by writing his first book titled “A Calculus Primer.”

Buddy is survived by his wife, Betty Broaddus Madison; three daughters, Leah Cheshire and husband Vince of Slidell, Kathy Wilson and husband John of West Monroe, and Carol Ludden and husband Brendan of Brandon, Fla., as well as his stepdaughter Lynn Kesselring of Slidell and stepson James Kesselring and wife Sylvia of Oregon.

He is also survived by eight grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and five step-great-grandchildren along with one brother, Francis Madison and wife Maisie; two sisters, Ellen Goodman and husband Vince and Noelle Embree.

Buddy was preceded in death by his first wife, Karla Neuhauser Madison; his mother and father, Marie Antoinette Lagman Madison and A.B. Carl Madison; two brothers, Carl Jr. and Ralph Madison; and two sisters, Georgia and Mary Madison.

Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the funeral

services at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 360 Robert Blvd., Slidell, at noon Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008. The Rev. Chris Andrews and the Rev. John Williams will officiate.

Interment will be in Dubuisson Lawn Cemetery at a later date.

All visitation will be at the church on Tuesday from 10 a.m. until noon.

Donations to Hospice Care of Louisiana/Mississippi are preferred, in lieu of flowers.

Arrangements by Honaker Funeral Home, Inc., Slidell.