Lewis B. Buckingham Jr.

York—Lewis B. (“Buck”) Buckingham Jr., 80 passed away peacefully on February 24 at home.

Born on February 23, 1943 in Philadelphia, Buck moved with his parents during the early years of WW II, but returned to York, his parents’ home town, after the war. He spent his early childhood years in rural York County, close by what is now Rocky Ridge Park. After moving to upstate Pennsylvania at age 16, he graduated from high school and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving as a radioman aboard the destroyer USS William C. Lawe, DD-763. During his two years of service, he took part in a variety of deployments, including patrols in the Caribbean during the Cuban Missile crisis.

On leaving the Navy, Buck enrolled at Penn State University under the G.I. Bill and earned a B.A. in History. After graduating, he moved to Philadelphia, working for a number of years in the Free Library system of Philadelphia eventually earning a Master’s in Library Science degree from the University of Hawaii.

In Philadelphia Buck continued to work in the Free Library system but eventually turned his hand to the building trades practiced by several of his mother’s brothers. Combining these skills with his early love of nature, he became a caretaker, builder and gardener for the Philadelphia Ethical Society’s Camp Linden near West Chester, PA.

Ultimately, Buck returned to York where he lived with the family of his sister Jackie in an addition to their house that he had built for his widowed mother, Naomi. Once back in York, he thrived on being close to beloved and admired: siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews from both the Buckingham and Pentz branches of his family. Invariably he loved being in Nature, watching birds and working in the gardens that his family tended with great care.

Buck was predeceased by his father, Lewis Buckingham, Sr. (1980) and mother, Naomi Pentz Buckingham (1996). He is survived by: his brother Jeff (Wendy); sisters Jackie Over (Tom) and Jo Banfill (Bob); and his former wife, Melissa Forinash Buckingham.

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