Lawrence "Larry" Campbell Buckley's Obituary
Lawrence Campbell Buckley, age 90, of Covington, Louisiana, passed away peacefully in his own bed on Sunday, June 8, 2025, in the presence of his family. He was born on June 23, 1934, in Freeport, New York.
He is survived by his loving wife of 68 years, Eileen d’Esterhazy Buckley; his six children, Maureen Babcock (Bill), Larry Buckley, Jr. (Pam), Dot Collier (Mark), Paul Buckley, Tom Buckley (Laurie), and John Buckley (Melissa); 12 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by the oldest surviving friends of Larry & Eileen, Margaret “Mickey” Moloney Meade and Michael Meade of Miltown Malbay, Ireland.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Maurice “Buck” Campbell Buckley and Dorothy “Dot” Zeiher Buckley.
Larry was an only child and grew up in Roosevelt, New York, where he graduated with Honors from Chaminade High School in 1951. As a child, Larry spent a great deal of time alone, so as an adult, he loved being surrounded by friends and family. He joined the 1955 graduating class at the University of Notre Dame a few months after turning 17 and joined the Naval ROTC on campus. After graduating, he served as the Communications Officer in Europe, the Middle East, and the Caribbean on the USS Holder, a Gearing Class destroyer. Larry and his wife Eileen met at Jones Beach during the summer of 1953 where they both worked at the West Bathhouse—Eileen upstairs in the Restaurant and Larry in Concessions on the Boardwalk below. It was a summer romance that led to a 4-year, long-distance relationship followed by 68 years of marriage, 6 children, 12 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren (so far).
Larry was a larger-than-life personality with a great sense of humor, a huge laugh, an infectious smile, and an ability to light up a room with his presence. He was known for his always clever and sometimes hilariously wicked one-liners. However, his ability to laugh at himself was one of his most endearing qualities. He used to say that he wasn’t overweight, he was under-tall.
Larry found the perfect career for his personality in running an Outside Sales Agency and was exceptional at his craft because of his incredible memory. He set up his own manufacturer’s representative business, Utility and Industrial Sales, in 1977. Larry represented product manufacturers to distributors and retailers who would then be responsible for selling to end-users, but, more often than not, Larry would meet with project managers of large construction projects, sell his products directly to the construction managers, and then deliver a closed deal to his distributors who loved him for that. He had a large bookshelf in his office full of 3 ring binders stuffed with product descriptions, technical specifications, and 24 to 36 character-long inventory numbers. Larry had them all memorized along with the quantity and pricing discounts. Larry traveled extensively throughout the Southeast for work and would often patronize the same restaurants of the different towns he visited, where he knew the names of the owners and servers, as well as the names of their spouses and children.
As a father, Larry was the opposite of the modern helicopter parent. He was a big believer in giving kids the time and space they needed to be themselves. He was not one to offer cheap praise, but he was always there if you needed him. He was slow to offer advice and would typically ask his kids what they thought they should do to solve a problem before suggesting any ideas of his own, usually in the form of questions. Anyone who watched him at a summer swim meet could see that he did get quiet satisfaction out of seeing his children perform well in the pool. Both a son and a grandson of his went on to swim at Notre Dame.
Larry was a life-long fan of the University of Notre Dame and the Fighting Irish Football program. He passed his love of Notre Dame to all of his children and grandchildren. Two of his sons and five of his grandsons graduated from Notre Dame, and one of his granddaughters graduated from its sister school, St. Mary’s College. Father Ted Hesburgh signed Larry’s diploma, as well as the diplomas of his son, Lawrence Campbell Buckley, Jr., and his grandson, Lawrence Campbell Buckley, III. As a student, Larry worked as a spotter in the press box during football games. He continued cultivating his friendships from Notre Dame throughout his life and was admitted as an honorary member of the Leahy Lads after his 50th reunion. Leahy Lads was an exclusive club of former Notre Dame Football players who had played for the legendary Notre Dame Football coach Frank Leahy. Larry acted as the nerve center for the Notre Dame Class of 1955 and spent hours every day during retirement keeping up with former classmates as a raconteur and laughing with them over the phone throughout his 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
One of the defining events of Larry’s long life was surviving a catastrophic heart attack on New Year’s Eve in 2001. The cardiac event left Larry with less than 20% of his heart working at 66 years of age. After barely qualifying for a transplant because of his age, a donor heart with a near perfect match became available, and Larry was approved for the surgery. He was extremely grateful to be given a second chance at life and did his best to honor his donor’s family by living as long as he possibly could. Larry was perfectly compliant with the doctor’s orders for maximizing his chances for a long life. He completely eliminated alcohol and was extremely careful about the food he consumed. Larry became an active spokesman for LOPA (Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency) and traveled throughout southeast Louisiana promoting the organization by telling his story. Larry was one of 20 patients who received a heart transplant in 2001 and was by far the oldest in the cohort. Not only did Larry outlive all the other patients in his cohort, but he also outlived Doctor Cliff Van Meter, the surgeon who performed the transplant. The Buckley family will forever be grateful to Larry’s donor, Bonnie Guerrero, and her family, specifically her mother, Mona, sister, Lucy, and daughter, Mia, all of whom came to visit Larry in 2003 and again in 2010. Bonnie’s portrait was hung with the portraits of all of the other family members in Larry and Eileen’s home for the last 22 of the 48 years they lived there.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Mr. Buckley may be made in Larry’s name to LOPA at https://give.lopa.org.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral mass at 11:00 AM on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 West 21st Avenue, Covington, Louisiana, with visitation beginning at 9:00 AM. Interment will follow in the adjacent Pinecrest Memorial Gardens. Following the interment will be a Celebration of Life event from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the Covington Country Club, 200 Country Club Drive, Covington, Louisiana.
E. J. Fielding Funeral Home of Covington, Louisiana, is honored to be entrusted with Mr. Buckley’s funeral arrangements. His family invites you to share thoughts, memories, and condolences by signing an online guestbook at https://www.ejfieldingfh.com.
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