I knew him when he was a vital, energetic, hearty Mayor when I served as Town Administrator. He knew every single employee of the Town by name, and would often visit the Warehouse on Poplar Street at lunch time to talk to them; he was a tireless advocate for good salaries and good benefits, and he appreciated (as did I) the important and often thankless jobs of the Electric Crew and the Sanitation Crew. Well into his 70s he still had more energy than most of us. I remember "fighting the good fight" with him on more than one occasion. Once we left for Raleigh early in the morning to battle against some misguided folks down the river who were trying to thwart our plans to expand our environmentally superior wastewater treatment plant. I remember him standing and passionately addressing whatever Committee it was - everybody in Raleigh knew Highlands when Buck was Mayor! - and persuading them by, I think, his sheer earnestness. At the end of a long day we were driving back to Highlands, and it was growing late; I kept asking, "Buck, would you like me to drive? Take a break?" But taking a break was not his style. "No, I'm fine," he would insist, and then embark on the next topic of conversation, looking at his instrument panel in the dark, as I imagined he did on one of those many missions he flew in Vietnam; I could almost see him gazing left and right to check his engines. He sometimes attributed his good healthy and energy to his exposure to Agent Orange, which I decided might be a Fountain of Youth if a soldier could outlast it.
He did so much for the Boy Scouts and the Church of the Incarnation, and when he was no longer Mayor he stayed involved in everything. He delivered home delivery meals to my Mom every week for a long time. "How's your Mom?" he would always ask. And, of course, he was the best Santa Claus anyone has ever seen.
Now he has flown his final mission. And I will miss him.
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