By Andrew Hackmack
Buckley retired in June after 15 years as chairman of the board of the Valley Stream Historical Society, having earned the praise of his colleagues for his strong leadership. In light of his dedication to the organization, his efforts to preserve local history and his care for the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration, the Herald is honored to name him its 2008 Person of the Year.
Buckley, 85, became chairman of the board shortly after the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration opened in December 1992. The house, on Hendrickson Avenue, contains many photographs and historic artifacts relating to the village's history.
Ed Fare, who took over as chairman this summer, said that during his tenure, Buckley went to the Restoration twice a day just to check up on things. He still gives Fare reminders about things that need to be done at the house.
"He can't be replaced," Fare said. "I can try to be chairman of the board but I can't come close to filling Jim's shoes."
Buckley grew up in Valley Stream, attending Brooklyn Avenue School and graduating from Central High School in 1941. He remains an active member of the school's alumni association. Karen Selah, a member of the historical society's board of trustees, said that Buckley is just as interested in the history of the local schools as he is in the history of the village. His passion is preserving that history for others, Selah explained. "He wants to pass it on to new generations," she said.
He has done just that. In 1993, Buckley arranged to have the fourth-graders from Wheeler Avenue School come to Pagan-Fletcher for a local history lesson. The fourth grade has visited every year since, with the exception of 2007-08, when the house was closed for renovations. Buckley led the tours himself - from the basement to the third floor - and told the students about the village's history.
Though she doesn't know Buckley personally, Wheeler Avenue Principal Christine Zerillo said the tours are an essential part of the fourth-grade curriculum, which includes the study of local and New York state history. "It really transforms their learning through actual artifacts," Zerillo said. "Our children look forward to it every year." And students remember their trips to Pagan-Fletcher for many years, she said.
Historical society board member Valerie Esposito said Buckley would arrange a tour of the house for anyone who asked. She also noted the local history slide show Buckley assembled for various community organizations. He had 28 carousels of slides for his "Then and Now" show, which compared current Valley Stream buildings to their predecessors of the past.
According to Selah, Buckley has sharp memories of how the village used to be 20 - even 50 - years ago. "Jim Buckley remembers things," she said. "He knows everything about the village."
Selah described Buckley as a man with a great sense of humor and someone who was a pleasure to work with. Esposito recalled that he would do whatever was necessary to maintain the Pagan-Fletcher house - replacing the light bulbs in the electric candles in the windows, even taking out the garbage. "There's so much to do there," she said, "and you need somebody always on the alert like that. He was always like that, and he still is."
At every board of trustees meeting, the chairman would give the "Buckley Report." Esposito remembered that Buckley always read from a clipboard a list of things that needed to be done. "He got them done, too," she said.
Buckley and his late wife, Anita, had six children. He worked as a purchasing agent for Hendrickson Brothers, a construction company, for 38 years, and retired in 1990. Not long afterward he got involved with the historical society, working closely with the chairman at the time, the late Ted Libath, to oversee the final years of the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration project.
"He told me when he retired from Hendrickson Brothers, he felt it was time he started paying back," Libath's widow, Agnes, the historical society's corresponding secretary, said of Buckley. "He has devoted many hours at Pagan-Fletcher keeping historical records and events from the past in order, and also many other duties there to keep the Restoration running."
Fare said that Buckley kept meticulously organized records, with every document categorized and easy to find.
Though Buckley has taken on a lesser role in the historical society in recent months, it still remains an important part of his life. "There's nobody who can match the time and dedication that he put in, to make sure things got done right," Fare said.
Comments about this story? AHackmack@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
