Generous Douglas Buck always helped those in need
Put a bunch of job candidates in front of Douglas Buck, and no question which he’d pick: the one in the worst kind of trouble, every single time.
It didn’t matter if the man had the skills. It didn’t matter if he fit the part. The neediest one out there was the one who got the chance.
“He was a shade tree for a lot of guys,” said David Buck, 64, of North Bend, who ran his father’s business in Renton.
Mr. Buck’s goodness came from gratitude. For most of his life, he was lucky enough to find work. But as a boy in the 1920s, he sang on street corners. He scoured through dumpsters. He sat in class in clothing made from flour sacks. And he never forgot.
Douglas Murdock Buck died from complications of Parkinson’s disease Friday at the age of 91, a working man’s philanthropist who once donated much of his savings to a local boy’s home. In the course of his life, he gave everything from jobs to handouts, regretting none of it, even when his charity was cheated.
“Nine times out of 10, it bit him in the butt, but he didn’t care,” said his grandson, Mark Carlson, 34, of Renton.
Born in Everett, in the years leading up to the Depression, Mr. Buck was the eighth of nine children, a redheaded slip who sang “Danny Boy” on downtown street corners.
Mr. Buck, the family’s first high-school graduate, went on to become a paint mixer and a truck driver, eventually starting the Atomic Battery Shop in Renton in 1949. A doctor advised him against heavy lifting; he broke his back as a younger man. But nobody told Mr. Buck no.
“Life was a boxing ring for him,” his son said. “He took the blows.”
Mr. Buck met his future wife, Claudia June Alexander, on a blind date. The tiny, blond woman was working as a soda jerk.
Their marriage was close and committed. Mr. Buck spent lunch hours at home with his wife, and later, when she grew frail, he brought her to the office every afternoon. It was something Mr. Buck did with his two children and grandchildren as well - brought them to work, so they could sit by his side.
Mr. Buck planned to retire at 40. But “forty came and left and he kept working,” said his daughter, Claudia Carlson, 59.
He started another business, Renton Sand & Gravel, where Louis Larson worked as a truck driver. When he heard of Mr. Buck’s death, Larson cried. Here was a man who taught him the strength of a work ethic, the value of straight talk, the business of treating people well.
“I felt like a part of the family,” said Larson, 60, of Orting, Pierce County.
After Mr. Buck’s wife died in 1996, work became a welcome distraction. He kept at it until the age of 87. Until this summer, Mr. Buck kept busy walking to the Renton Senior Center every day.
It was there his family celebrated his 90th birthday, with more than 200 people. When he walked in the room, Mr. Buck found his burgundy chair waiting for him.
Carlson set it up so he could sit in comfort, at the center of the room, while friends and family circled around him, the greatest man she ever knew.
Apart from his children, Mr. Buck is survived by his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A memorial will take place today at 1 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 99 Wells Ave. S., Renton.
Donations may be made to the Griffin Home, 2500 Lake Washington Blvd. N., Renton, WA 98056; The Renton Historical Society, 235 Mill Ave. S., Renton, WA 98055; or The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Church Street Station, P.O. Box 780, New York, NY 10008-0780.
Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com