Buckingham, Albert "Buck" William1913-2008

BUCKINGHAM, SEAMAN, MILLER

Posted By: Doris Hoffman, Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/7/2014 at 11:28:34

SIOUX CITY -- Albert William "Buck" Buckingham, 95, a longtime resident of Sioux City, died Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008, after a brief illness.

Services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at Grace United Methodist Church, with Pastor Tony Nestor officiating. Burial will be in Graceland Park Cemetery. Visitation will be 3 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 5 to 8 p.m. and a 7 p.m. prayer service, at Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel, 6200 Morningside Ave.

Buck was born on April 3, 1913 (legal date, April 1, 1914) and raised in Westfield, Iowa. He graduated from Westfield High School in 1931. The following fall, he attended Upper Iowa University, but returned to Westfield after the sudden death of his father. For the next few years of the Great Depression, he worked at many jobs. Later, Buck entered Morningside College and graduated in 1939. He taught and coached basketball at Sergeant Bluff and then at Mapleton, Iowa, until 1942, when he entered the U.S. Navy during World War II.

In the fall of 1942, he married Marian M. Miller of Sloan, Iowa, at Grace United Methodist Church in Sioux City. Buck was stationed at Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, Fla., where he was Officer in Charge of Air Sea Rescue. Susan was born in Jacksonville in 1943. At the end of the war in 1945, the family returned to Sioux City, where Buck began his career at Morningside College with his first position, P.E. and health teacher and head basketball coach. Rosemary was born in 1946. During three summers, Buck attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and received his master of arts in administration in 1950. Jim was born in 1953.

During his many years of service at Morningside, two of Buck's basketball teams won NCAA Division II Conference championships. Buck also served as athletic director, director of public relations and vice president for estate planning. On the national front, he was elected president of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics). Following this, he was on the U.S. Olympic Board for 20 years, serving as chair of housing for the American athletes for 16 of those years. He was also chair of housing in numerous World University and Pan American games.

Buck received an honorary doctor of law degree from Morningside, and he and his wife, Marian received a distinguished Alumni Award. Buck and Marian were married for 57 years, and both were devoted to family. Buck enjoyed playing golf, fishing, carpentry, story telling, gardening and loved sharing good times with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Survivors include two daughters and their husbands, Susan and Greg Smith of Omaha, Neb., and Rosemary and Lyle Tweet of Tucson, Ariz.; a son and his wife, James and Ellen Buckingham of Houston, Texas; 11 grandchildren and their families, Jane Pease Dugan and her husband, Scott and their daughters, Katie and Emily; Amy Pease Dickinson and her husband, Josh and their sons, Collin and Danny; Carrie Pease and Michael Abboud and their daughter, Brooklynn; Steven (Tweet) Brandon; Michael and Christina Tweet and their daughters, Grace and Elle; Heather Buckingham and her husband, Rodrigo Maldonado; Anna Buckingham Craig and her husband, Kacy; Bradley Buckingham and Elizabeth Pace; Benjamin, Angela and Andrew Buckingham; and many nieces and nephews.

Buck was preceded in death by his wife, Marian; his father, James William Buckingham; his mother, Sophia Elizabeth Seaman Buckingham; two sisters, Nellie Chambers and Helen Powell; and a brother, Clifford J. Buckingham.

Memorials may be directed to Morningside College, Albert W. Buckingham Endowed Athletic Scholarship Fund, 1501 Morningside Ave., Sioux City, IA 51106.

Sioux City Journal
Monday, December 1, 2008
Sioux City, Iowa