F.R.”Buck” Barclay

LEEDS — Franklin Rodden “Buck” Barclay, 74, a resident of Lakeshore Drive, Leeds, died unexpectedly, Saturday, Oct. 30, at his residence.

 Buck was born on Feb. 8, 1936, in Lyndonville, Vt., the eldest of seven born to John Hammond Barclay and Elizabeth Ester Eaton Barclay. When he was several months old, the family moved to the Moose Hill section of Livermore Falls. Except for the period during the late 1930s and the World War II years when the family lived in town, he lived on Moose Hill until he graduated from Livermore Falls High School in 1954. He currently maintains complete, up-to-date roster of his high school classmates, including seasonal addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.

 On Aug. 8, 1954, he married his high school sweetheart, Jeanne Constance Brown, of Wayne. They had five children who survive. Jeanne predeceased him in October 1986. In December 1989, he married Sandra Wight Strom, who predeceased him in September 1999.

 In September 1954, Buck enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. His eight years on active duty spanned the latter months of the Korean Conflict and the early years of the Vietnam War. He and Jeanne were stationed in Pasadena, Texas; Brooklyn (Sheepshead Bay), New York; Sculthrope, England; and his final four years at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor. While at Dow he took college courses two nights and Saturday mornings, while working 25 hours a week in a local grocery, in addition to his military assignment. He served in the Maine Air National Guard and the U.S. Naval Reserve after his active duty service.

 Following his active military service, Buck gathered Jeanne and the four boys, took his Korean GI Bill, and finished his college education at Husson College, graduating in 1964 with a cum laude Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. Following college, he completed the Sears, Roebuck and Company Executive Training Program in Lewiston. He served Sears in Philadelphia, Orange, Conn., and Nashua, N.H., before returning to Maine and “the way life ought to be” in 1967. Daughter Heather joined the family there in 1969.

 Buck was employed by several Maine hospitals as a personnel administrator. He was a charter member, past president and life member of the Maine Society of Hospital Personnel Directors (now the Maine Association of Healthcare Human Resources Administrators) and he was their first member to have held all their elective offices. He retired from the Department of Health and Human Services, where he served as a labor relations officer. He was later re-employed as a part time personnel officer by DHHS.

 Buck developed sports officiating as an avocation while in the service. He umpired baseball and softball for many years. He was a football official for more that 40 years. He was proud to have been selected to officiate in many state playoff and championship games. He was particularly proud of his selection as the Referee of the Maine Shriners’ Lobster bowl III. In May 2004 The State of Maine Chapter of National Football Foundation and the College Hall of Fame presented Buck their prestigious Football Official Recognition Award. This award is presented to a football official “who has given noteworthy service to the game of football throughout his career.”

 Buck was active in the Masonic fraternity. As a young man he was a member of the Auburn Chapter, Order of DeMolay, usually hitch-hiking to their Auburn meetings. He joined Anson Jones Priory, Order of Knighthood while stationed in Houston, Texas area. In 1962 he joined Mechanics Lodge in Orono. Upon returning to Maine in 1967 he affiliated with Asylum Lodge in Wayne and served them as master in 1970 and 1972. He had been their secretary since 1975. Buck recently received his 50 year pin from the Masonic Lodge. He is also a member of several Scottish and York Rite bodies and served the Augusta Valley as Thrice Potent Master in 1983-85.

 He was a charter member of the Maine High Twelve Club No. 730. In 1961, he joined Anah Shriners in Bangor. He later affiliated with Kora Shriners in Lewiston, where he “played around” as a Shrine Klown for about twenty years. Buck served the Grand Lodge of Maine as a District Deputy Grand master 1973 to 1975, and was elected Junior Grand Warden in 1977. Buck was a life member of Fitzgerald-Cunnings Post 2, The American Legion, where he served as commander 1986 to 1989, and as adjutant 1989 to 2000. He was an associate member of the Augusta Area Military Association. He also held membership in the Augusta Lodge of Elks No. 964.

 He was also a member of the Moose Hill Free Will Baptist Church in Livermore Falls.

 Buck was particularly proud of the personal and professional accomplishments of each of his children. Their individual skills in carpentry, building, electricity, electronics, computers, plumbing, cooking, music and most things manual were amazing, as well as a couple being certified EMTs and five SCUBA divers. In total, no project exceeded their potential.

 He is survived by his four sons, Franklin II (Chip) and his wife, Deanna, of Auburn, Christopher and his wife, Lynne, of Colorado Springs, Colo., Timothy and his wife, Claire, of Auburn, Ian of Leeds, and daughter-in-law, Bonnie, of Falmouth; and his daughter, Heather and her husband, Dennis Poirier, of Johnston, R.I.; three stepdaughters, Eva DeHaas and her husband, David, of Otter Creek, Kelly Gagne of Limington, and Beth Thorne and her husband, Craig, of Standish. His survivors also include three brothers, Celyon of Vilas, N.C., David of Scotia, N.Y., and Shawn of Fayette; and two sisters, Rebecca Pelletier of Fayette and Stephanie Lagasse of Livermore Falls; 12 grandsons; three granddaughters; two great-grandsons; and a great-granddaughter.

 He was predeceased by his parents; his sister, Judy Rawson; his brother, John Barclay; an infant granddaughter, Jeanne Rolande Barclay; nephew, Dereck Pelletier; and great-grandniece, Jillian Morrell.

 Messages of condolence may be sent to www.finleyfuneralhome.com.