Buckner Sr., Joseph Cecil

Joseph Cecil Buckner Sr. died on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, Va. He was 87. Born in Carroll County on September 7, 1922, he was the son of the late Currell Tobias and Viola Marshall Buckner.

Cecil graduated from Pulaski High School and worked for Gulf Oil Company before beginning a lifetime career at Appalachian Power Company. He married Gerolean Marshall Buckner on September 24, 1942, and together they enjoyed family and serving the community. Cecil served as a member of the first “Seagoing Cowboy” voyage on the USS Virginian that sailed in June 1945 to provide relief to war torn areas of Greece and Italy during World War II.

He was a lifetime member and lifetime deacon at Pulaski First Church of the Brethren and for many years served as Sunday School Superintendent, trustee, teacher and choir member. He was an avid supporter of Week-Day Religious Education and an avid Pulaski County High School Cougar fan. He volunteered locally at Daily Bread and helped reconstruct homes through Disaster Relief Missions. He was a member of the Ruritan Club. Cecil enjoyed going to the YMCA and providing family and neighbors with produce from his garden.

Cecil is survived by his four children, Jean Buckner Pryor and her husband, Edward, of Pittsboro, N.C., Patricia Buckner Thompson, of Chestertown, Md., Joseph Buckner Jr. and his wife, Sharon, of Harrisonburg, Va., and John Buckner and his wife, Lisa, of Dublin, Va. He was preceded in death by his son, Roger Lee Buckner. Six grandchildren survive Cecil, Kara Buckner McCulloch and her husband, Geoff, of Pulaski, Va., Jana Thompson, of Durham, N.C., Keli Buckner Lichty and her husband, Chris, of Christiansburg, Va., Robert Thompson III, of Fairlee, Md., Brian Buckner, of Arlington, Va., and Elizabeth Buckner, of League City, Texas. He is also survived by four great-grandchildren, Taylor McCulloch, Cade McCulloch, and Haley McCulloch and Eleanor Lichty.

Funeral service will be held at noon on Saturday, December 26, 2009, from Pulaski First Church of the Brethren with Pastors Ted Turner and David Shumate officiating. Burial will follow in Thornspring Cemetery Pulaski County. The family will receive friends on Saturday from 11 a.m. until the service hour.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Pulaski First Church of the Brethren, 1749 Newbern Road, Pulaski, Va. 24301, Daily Bread, P.O. Box 824, Pulaski, Va. 24301 or The Heifer Foundation Cowboy Endowment, www.heiferfoundation.org/CowboyEndowment; 888-422-1161.

Arrangements by Stevens Funeral Home, Pulaski, Va.