June 14 2019: BUCKLEY, John Patrick, Sr.

John Patrick Buckley, Sr. (Age 86)

On Thursday, June 13, 2019, of Rockville, MD.  Beloved husband of Rosemarie Buckley; father of John, Jr. (Colleen), Anthony, Lawrence (Julie), Peter (Denise), Carla McCaffrey (Robert), Paul (Monica), and Genevieve Buckley (Thomas Nielsen); also survived by 11 grandchildren and one great-grandson. Relatives and friends may call at St. Raphael’s Church, 1513 Dunster Road (at Falls Road), Rockville, MD, on Monday, from 4 to 7 p.m. where Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 18 at 10:30 a.m.  Interment St. Rose of Lima Parish Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Boston College High School at www.bchigh.edu or The Father McKenna Center at www.fathermckennacenter.org

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JOHN PATRICK BUCKLEY, SR.

Longtime resident of Rockville, MD, age 86, a retired federal employee, passed from this life into Eternal Life on Thursday, June 13, 2019.  John, a native of the Charlestown section of Boston, Massachusetts, was the only child of the late Mary Anne (nee Bonardi) and John Patrick Buckley, both of Boston. He grew up on Chestnut Street, around the corner from the Bunker Hill Monument and north of the Charlestown Navy Yard, permanent berth of “Old Ironsides”.

He is survived by his wife, Rosemarie (nee Busalacchi), and sons John, Jr. (Colleen), Anthony, Esquire, Lawrence (Julie), Peter (Denise), and Paul (Monica), and daughters Carla McCaffrey (Robert) and Genevieve Buckley (Thomas Nielsen). He is also survived by eleven grandchildren and one great grandson.

John graduated from Boston College High School, where he was introduced to Latin, Greek, French, and German among other traditional subjects.

During his high school and college years, he was blessed with part time employment at Symphony Hall in Boston, which greatly contributed to the cultural formation begun by his opera-loving mother, who listened to Milton Cross and the Met every Saturday. Working as a program boy, doorman, usher, and stage hand, he was able to hear the BSO in its classical repertory, as well as Louis Armstrong and His All Stars, Stan Kenton, and Jazz at the Philharmonic. He also scooped ice cream at Pops Concerts and opened bottles of champagne and sparkling burgundy in tempo with the music.

John received his undergraduate degree from Boston College in 1953, where he added Italian to his resume of languages (all spoken haltingly at best) and an M.A. in 1954. After beginning doctoral studies at B.C., he became fed up with the academic process in the spring of 1955, and volunteered for a three-year enlistment in the U.S. Army, serving in the Counter Intelligence Corps on Okinawa. During this period, he was introduced to Japan and its culture, which was pivotal in his inclination to forego further studies in early American history, which had been his focus till then, and consider specializing in the Far East. However, such a decision would have added a minimum of three years to his scholarly training to acquire some proficiency in the Chinese and Japanese languages and he had already been engaged to Rosemarie since December of 1955. Hence he abandoned this plan.

Returning stateside from Okinawa, John took a federal employment entrance exam and was offered a trainee position with the Social Security Administration of HEW in Springfield, Massachusetts in late 1958. He and Rosemarie were married on Memorial Day in 1959–a Saturday when all of the bride’s uncles were able to attend. Within a year, the couple and their first-born had moved to Washington, DC, where John had been assigned to a position in the Public Health Service, where he would spend the rest of his career until retiring in 1997.

In reflecting on his education later, John felt that it was pointed uncannily to solving crossword puzzles which he enjoyed doing for many years.

In retirement, John was active in Community Ministries of Rockville and for many years on his parish’s RCIA team. He and Rosemarie also served for a dozen years on the parish’s marriage preparation team. Family legend has it that he promised her-though she might be miserable-she would never be bored.