Obituary: Rev. Thomas Joseph Buckley, Jr., 82, Almond
Rev. Thomas Joseph Buckley Jr., 82, of Almond, NY entered
into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ on June 14, 2019 at St. James Mercy
Hospital in Hornell, NY. Throughout his life he was widely known as Pastor
Buckley. Tom was born February 6, 1937 in Jersey City, NJ and grew up in Fort
Lee, NJ. He graduated from Fort Lee High School on June 20, 1955 and then
graduated from Providence-Barrington Bible College in Providence, RI on June 1,
1959 with the call of God on his life to become a church planting missionary.
He became an ordained minister on June 25, 1959 and married his wife Carol on
July 25, 1959. They together became missionaries with A.M.O.C (American Mission
for Opening Closed Churches) of Olcott, NY. Then in 1996 Pastor Buckley founded
Church Planters To America with headquarters in Almond, NY and served as the
Director. From 1959 to 1996 his church planting ministries included pastoring
churches in Dennison Corners, NY, Spruce Head, ME, Hope, ME, Dyer Brook, ME,
and Olcott, NY. The one true passion in his life was to preach and share the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of his ministry and outreaches
into each community churches have been revived and many lives have been
changed. He enjoyed 60 years of ministry and being a servant to other people by
doing many things for them. He learned the building construction trade along
the way and obtained the ability to plan and complete major projects all for
the sake of the gospel. He has renovated old church buildings and homes and has
completed new construction projects in conjunction with his church planting
ministry. He became an excellent finish carpenter as well. Additionally, he
enjoyed gardening, hunting, and golf. He particularly enjoyed sharing the
bounty of his gardening harvest with others. He enjoyed traveling up and down
the east coast of the United States from Maine to Florida primarily sharing the
gospel and his burden and vision to help reopen closed churches and help
struggling churches in the small towns of America. For a short period of time
in his life he served as a volunteer firefighter with South Thomaston Maine and
Hope Maine Fire Departments.
He was the son of the
late Thomas Joseph Buckley Sr. and the late Elizabeth Roth Buckley. He was
predeceased by his sister Marion Puryear. He is survived by his wife Carol
Buckley; his son Thomas Buckley and his wife Rhonda; his daughter Debbie
Terwilliger and her husband Stephen; four grandchildren; one great grandchild;
his nephew Paul Puryear and his niece Amy Puryear. The family will be
present to receive friends on Thursday (June 20, 2019) from 7-8pm at the
Bender-Brown & Powers Funeral Home 354 Canisteo Street in Hornell. Burial
will be on Friday (June 21, 2019) at 1:00pm at Dennison Corners Cemetery (Town
of German Flatts) in Mohawk, NY. A Memorial Service will be held at a later
date in July.
