OKEECHOBEE — For one Okeechobee man, family history lives in the form of a 1964 Ford truck.

Robert Buster was recently given the opportunity, privilege and honor of purchasing the fully restored truck which used to belong to his uncle Jimmy Buster.

The truck has been in the loving hands of country singer John Rich of the band Big & Rich since Jimmy died in 2001. 

Robert explained his uncle and the singer were best friends, and Jimmy even served as John’s sound man back when his career was just starting out in the music industry.

After Jimmy passed away, John went to Jimmy’s mother and asked if he could buy the truck. To honor Jimmy, John had the truck fully restored and put a plaque inside reading, “To Jimmy Buster. Always riding with you brother.”

For many years, John took Jimmy’s mother for a ride in the truck but after her passing, he decided it was time to hand it back over to the family. He asked Robert if he was interested, and Robert was thrilled.

“It makes me truly happy to know it’s back in the family,” said John in a Facebook post.

The truck was hauled back to Okeechobee on a trailer. Though it drives great, Robert said you would never want to put that many miles on an old vehicle, and they had to travel about 800 miles.

Robert is excited to share this family treasure with his own young son and posted, “To my son Braylon Buster, you may not know it yet, but you are getting a pretty sweet truck and sweet family stories when you get older.”