Paul John Buck

Paul J. Buck
07/27/1947 - 09/05/2021

Paul John Buck, age 74, passed away at home on September 5, 2021. Born on July 27,1947 in Granville, New York, Paul spent his early years growing up in the beautiful hills, valleys and meadows of Rupert, Vermont. He attended a one-room schoolhouse in Rupert for grades K-8, and embraced hunting and fishing in his beloved Rupert from an early age throughout his entire life. When his family moved to East Middlebury his freshman year, he attended Middlebury High School, graduating in 1965. It was during his time in Middlebury that he grew his passion for aviation and was determined at a young age to become a commercial pilot.

He enlisted in the Air Force in 1965 and trained as an airplane mechanic, serving a year in Vietnam before being discharged in 1969. It was then that he began his aviation training in earnest, using the GI Bill to fund his flight lessons, simulator training sessions, earning as many flight hours as possible in order to realize his dream. His first job was as a corporate pilot for Paquette Paving in central New Hampshire. He also worked for Winnipesaukee Aviation in Laconia and a few flight instructor gigs before joining Air North, an Allegheny commuter based in Burlington, Vermont where he flew twin otters and formed lifelong friendships with fellow pilots, dispatchers and agents. In 1979 he took a leap of faith and joined Cooper Tool Group in Raleigh, NC as one of two pilots flying a King-Air 200. It was also in 1979 that Paul married Cindy Kirby on December 24 at the Kirby family residence in Burlington, VT. Cindy and Paul relocated to Raleigh for the next three years. Paul missed commercial aviation and the extended camaraderie of airline crews/friends so in 1981, the Bucks relocated to Utica, NY where Paul joined Empire Airlines, a regional carrier flying the Dutch-built Fokker, F-28, traveling to Amsterdam, Holland for six weeks of training. When Piedmont Airlines acquired Empire Airlines, the Bucks left upstate New York and returned to their New England roots settling in Meredith, NH in 1987 with sons Eric, age 4 and Matthew, age 6 months. Paul commuted from Meredith to Charlotte, NC and was a member of the flight training department for the next few years until US Airways bought Piedmont and he shifted gears to fly as a Captain on the Boeing 737, based out of Boston, which he continued to do until his retirement in 2004, logging more than 29,000 hours of flight time throughout his extensive 32 year aviation career.

Not being one to sit still for long, Paul launched his second transportation-related career by getting his CDL-A driving license and joined the crew of Scott Burns Landscaping as a part-time driver for the next several years. He never lost his "captain-in-charge" attitude and Scott's team was always gracious enough to humor him. When his health took a challenging turn a few years ago, he turned in his CDL and began retirement in earnest.

Paul was an incredibly talented and intuitive pilot, always preferring to fly the plane manually, somewhat distrustful of the cockpit computers. He had more than his share of exciting stories and frightening close calls but happily never shared the stories until he was safely back home.
His love of fishing, especially fly fishing and hunting, took him to many parts of the country. He shared his love for these activities with his sons and grandsons and the Buck family traditions of hunting and fishing, coupled with a deep respect for the outdoors, all remain strong.

Flying was Paul's passion but his heart was fully committed to his family: his wife, his sons, his siblings, his parents, uncles, aunts and grandsons. Family has always been his top priority and he never missed an opportunity to boast about his sons' accomplishments, careers and lifestyle choices, or the latest fish his grandsons caught. He was a wonderful storyteller and his memory for the smallest detail was epic. Paul was proud of his service in the Air Force and his years as a Kiwanian in Meredith, where his reputation for raffle ticket sales was well known and highly respected.

There is a huge hole in the hearts of the entire Buck family and so many of their close friends who have been an extended family for decades. Paul leaves behind his wife of nearly 42 years, Cynthia Kirby Buck, his son Eric, wife Brooke and grandsons Keegan, age 8 and Reed, age 6, his son Matthew and his wife Olanna. He also leaves behind seven siblings: Daryl Goodro, Peter Buck and his wife Anne, Rebecca Buck, Deborah Buck Miller and her husband Steve Miller, Evangeline Buck Thompson and her husband Dave, Tamela Buck Elmore and her husband Paul and Pamela Buck Snyder and her husband Jim, as well as several nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.

A celebration of life service will be held at The Mayhew Funeral Home, Route 3 in Meredith, NH on Friday, September 10 at 12 noon. There are no calling hours. The Buck family invites and encourages everyone to join them at a reception following the service at The Carriage House Church Landing in Meredith from 1-3 pm, where stories and memories can be shared by all.

In lieu of flowers, Paul's family asks that contributions be made in his memory to the Amyloidosis Center at Boston Medical Center, Office of Development, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, First Floor, Boston, MA 02118-2393.