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Buckingham -- Jerome H."Buck" Buckingham, age 88, died peacefully at home in Farmington on December 28 after a protracted encounter with cancer. He is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Selma Kouri Buckingham; daughters, Lynn Buckingham Villella of Placitas, Mary Ann Keesee and husband, Joe Keesee of Cortez, CO; son, Stuart K. Buckingham and wife, Carolyn of Santa Fe; brothers, T.H. Buckingham of Aurora, CO and David Buckingham of Long Beach, CA. He is also survived by ten grandchildren, Paul S. Villella of Denver, Jerome P. Villella of Dallas, Peter Buckingham Villella of Charlottesville, VA, Amy Keesee of Denver, David W. Keesee of Steamboat Springs, CO, Andrew J. Keesee of Durango, Lisa M. Buckingham of Lancaster, England, Joel P. Buckingham of Artesia, Samuel J. Buckingham and Lauren A. Buckingham, both of Santa Fe; and three great-grandsons, Garrett and Marcus Villella of Denver and Kieran Keesee of Cortez. Born on Valentine's Day of 1910, in Lorena, Texas, to George Henry and Mary Lou Stewart Buckingham, he remained, at heart, a Texan all his days. He moved with his family to West Texas in 1923. He graduated from Lubbock High School in 1929 and received a football scholarship to Rice University in Houston. As a football star for the Lubbock High School Westerners, he was, according to a newspaper clipping from the day,"One of the best passers in the district and a player never known to get perturbed during the course of a game." When our country was mired in The Great Depression, he did, as did so many, whatever he could to make a living. While still in college at Rice, he joined Shell Oil Company's geographical crew as a part-time rodman. In 1935 he went to work full-time in Shell's exploration department and remained there for 11 years. The family lived in a number of cities in the South. In 1946 he joined the staff of heavy equipment dealer, R.L. Harrison Company, and the family lived in Clovis before moving to Farmington in 1954. In 1960, R.L. Harrison became Rust Tractor Company and Buck was manager of Rust's Farmington facility until his retirement in 1973. He came out of retirement for three years to manage Border Machinery in Farmington. Buck was a member of First Methodist Church for 45 years, a member of the Masonic Lodge, and in 1970, he served as President of the Farmington Chamber of Commerce and became a member of the New Mexico Amigos. An avid fly fisherman who fished all over North America--though never quite as much as he would have liked--his favorite fishing spot was the Jacquez Ranch on the San Juan River, 30 miles east of Farmington. He enjoyed all manner of spectator sports, followed the Dallas Cowboys through good times and bad, and seldom, over more than 40 years, missed a Farmington Scorpions football game. A Funeral service will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 2, 1999 at First United Methodist Church, 800 Monterey. Interment will be at Greenlawn Cemetery. Pallbearers will be his grandsons, Paul, Jerome, and Peter Villella, David and Andrew Keesee, and Joel and Samuel Buckingham. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers that donations be made to Northwest New Mexico Hospice, PO Box 3336, Farmington, NM 87499 or to Hospitality House Building Fund, c/o San Juan Regional Cancer Center, 800 W. Maple, Farmington, NM 87401. Brewer, Lee & Larkin Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
        Published on: Thu December 31, 1998