William Franklin (Will) Buck

I would like to say a few words to honor William's memory.  (His Mom would not let anyone call him "Willie".)  He was one of the quiet largely unknown "good guys" of our class.  I grew up on five acres near the Lane Allen and Parkers Mill intersection and near Joe Neff.  Probably a mile further Emily Houston grew up on hundreds of acres.  Another couple of miles and William grew up in the small African-American community of "Little Georgetown" which was across from the back entrance to Bluegrass Field. The community was under the landing and takeoff patterns of the planes.  All four of us rode Bus #25 to Clays Mill Elementary and Bus #13 to Lafayette Junior and Senior High until we turned 16.

William was quiet and thoughtful and had a very kind heart toward animals large and small.  He was good with his hands and could fix or build almost anything.  He needed to work to help his Mom after school so was not able to participate in any team sports but I can tell you from the times he and I did things together he was very fast.  He might even have been Kenny Prather fast.  

After UK I left Kentucky and lost contact with my childhood and adolescence.  The last time I was with William he was in the Army and leaving for Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. We hugged and he touched the tip of my nose which he liked to say was for good luck.  Truly a good man was he.

Reading Patty Vance Moore's entry makes me want to amplify mine to not only capture Wayne's playful mischievous side but also the fact he was easily the most popular and probably coolest boy in our 10 - 13 age group.  (He was in Mrs. Williams 7th grade class as well but that year we could sit anywhere we wanted and I promise I was not the desk in front of Wayne.)  I especially can not believe I did not mention the Gardenside Cabana Club which had an especially high diving board to go along with the regular board.  Wayne owned that board.  I don't even know the official names of many of his dives from hand stands to triple flips to simple high graceful dives.  After swimming many of us would play ping pong with the winner continuing to play "next".  Some days Wayne would not sit down for a couple of hours.  He was filled with what coaches would later call "quick twitch" muscle fiber.  If he had better eye sight he would have made an excellent high school athlete.  Anyway, Wayne was the leader of many of us Gardenside area guys and gals who were coming of age as the 60s were dawning.  Memories are going to be a touching part of our 2020s.

I confess I have neither seen nor talked to Wayne since June 1966 but back in the day....  James Lane Allen Elementary opened its doors for the first time in September 1958  and marching into Mrs. Zonker's fifth grade classroom  were Wayne and myself.  We sat alphabetically so I was directly in front of Wayne for seven hours a day in both fifth and Mrs. Hacker's sixth grade classes.  That turned out to be a "treat" because Wayne had a cool NY vibe about him having grown up in a much more diverse culture.  Little did I suspect that first day that I would be his playful foil for two years.  About once a week he would stick his wet finger in my ear and when I would turn around and say, "DO NOT stick your wet finger in my ear" he would always, yes every time, say "that wasn't my finger".  Wayne had a full head of blonde hair back then that he put product in and combed numerous times a day like James Dean.  77 Sunst Strip was the hot TV show back then and Edd Byrnes played Kookie who had the exact same hair.  Being the savants that we were we immediately nicknamed Wayne "Kookie" and I still called him that at our 1966 graduation party  the last time I saw him.  Anyway, he was a good guy with a big heart and someone you always wanted on your side. #RIP#

Posted on: Feb 14, 2019 at 1:23 PM

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