Information courtesy of Hooper Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home.
Col Buck died Wednesday February 22, 2023 at Cookeville Regional Medical Center. He was born January 23, 1930 in Cookeville to the late James P. Buck, Sr. and Pauline Wiggs Buck.
Col. Buck received his B.S. degree in Agriculture from Tennessee Tech University in 1950. His esteemed military career spanned 37 years. Col. Buck enlisted in the Tennessee Army National Guard in 1950. He served in several staff positions early in his career and later served as Squadron Commander, 3D Squadron, 278th Armored Calvary Squadron in Cookeville for several years. Prior to his retirement in 1988, he served as Commandant for Tennessee Military Academy in Smyrna, Tennessee. He developed many lifetime friendships during his military career.
He was a lifetime member of the First United Methodist Church and a member of the Backsliders Sunday School Class for many years. He was a member of Al Menah Shriners, Cookeville Masonic Bodies, and the Lions Club.
His family includes his daughter and son-in-law, Angeli and Paul Swallow; son, Robert Brown Buck, grandchildren, Timothy (Eleanor) Durm, Jake (Krista) Durm, Avery (Quinton) Westrich, Lindsi Buck, Kelsi (Jake) Bishop, Emily (Jeremy) Jones, Wes Swallows, and great grandchildren, Liv Durm, Daisy Durm, Layla Westrich, Kaylin Cutter, Ava Grace Cutter, Jackson Jones, and Addie Lynn Jones.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife and mother of his children, Jewell Brown Buck, to whom he was married for 52 years; his second wife, Louise Burton Buck; a brother, James P. Buck, Jr.; and step-mother Bertie Brown Buck.
Pallbearers will be Timothy Durm, Jake Durm, Jake Bishop, Charles Cooper, Brock Cooper, and Barry Kimsey.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Backsliders Sunday School Class of First United Methodist Church and members of the Tennessee Army National Guard.
Memorial donations may be made to Cookeville First United Methodist Church, Liberty Presbyterian Church in McMinnville, or the Robert and Jewell Buck Scholarship Endowment at Tennessee Tech University.
The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to his wonderful caregivers who have become family to us: Sonya Presley, Pearl Smith, Sharron Colwell, Cheri Meadows, and Suzie McBroom. The family would like to thank the staff at Cookeville Regional Medical Center for the compassionate care he received recently prior to his death.
ARRANGEMENTS:
Funeral services for Col (Ret.) Robert Harold Buck, 93, of Cookeville, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday February 25 at Cookeville First United Methodist Church. Interment with military honors will follow at Saylors Cemetery in White County.
His family will receive friends Saturday from 12 p.m. until service time at the church.
Hooper Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.
