Obituary for Henry Carl "Buck" Buckles

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Life Story for Henry Carl "Buck" Buckles

So what do I say about the man who not only gave us life but, leading by example, shaped and formed those lives. Our father (who art in heaven) taught us many things.
He taught us small things like how to walk, how to talk (maybe he taught my sisters too well). He taught us how to skate, how to hit a golf ball (he could have done a better job of that). He taught us how to have fun. He always hated to leave a party and always wanted to be in the middle of the action. Our friends were always comfortable congregating at our house and I’ve seen that repeated with the friends of our sons and daughters, nephews and nieces. He was a man of few words but he didn’t need many to deliver a zinger, but never in a mean way. He could make you laugh at yourself without making you feel bad.
He also taught us big things like how to treat people with fairness and equality, how to work hard, how to raise a family, how to face adversity, how to love. The way he loved Mom taught us how to love our spouses and I’ve seen that reflected again with my sons and their wives. Any of our friends, no matter how scruffy they were (and some were very scruffy), that came into our house while we were growing up were treated as equals and were exposed to his quick wit and sometimes scathing humour. That’s why all our friends in the early days respected him and why all his nurses and health care workers in the later days loved him. He loved to spar verbally with someone who could match his speed – I think that’s why he used to watch Johnny Carson every night – he would have definitely given Johnny a run for his money.
He was loyal to a fault – to Mom and his family and all his many friends. Family was one of the most important things to him. He spent many hours travelling to our hockey and ringette games and was always asking how a game went or how we played. One of the ways he endeared himself to people was by being truly interested in their lives. He would remember things that were going on in your life and ask you about them the next time he saw you.
Dad died the way he lived – with honesty, compassion, and humour. Even in his final days, if you asked him how he was doing he would tell you he was good or great and then ask you how you were doing. He was still making us laugh even after he could no longer talk. Pointing his finger at us or waggling his feet with his usual impeccable timing cracked us up a couple of times. I’ve never laughed and cried at the same time so much in my life. I’m sure people walking by Dad’s room thought there was a bunch of crazy people in there.
I started out by asking what you should say about such a man but that’s actually the wrong question. The correct question is actually what do you say to such a man and the answer to that is easy. You say “Thanks for everything Dad, we love you”.
Thank you all for being with us today.