Paul V. Buckley, at 81; family man,
guardian of the law, friend, mentor
Paul V. Buckley the man, the lawyer, and the judge never forgot where he came from. Born on Feb. 8, 1936, in the middle of the Great Depression, he grew up in working-class St. Ann’s Parish in the Neponset section of Dorchester during World War II when most everything in life was rationed and pennies could make a difference. He later lived in West Roxbury before moving to West Dennis on Cape Cod.
Over the eight decades of his busy, multi-faceted life, Paul was the go-to man for relatives, friends, colleagues, young adults, even strangers looking for some neighborly counsel. He rarely turned anyone down.
As he neared his 81st birthday, Paul was keeping up the pace following a positive report from his annual physical in early December of last year. But just weeks later, while vacationing in Naples, Florida, with his wife, former state Sen. Marian Walsh, (they were just beginning to winter in that Gulf Coast community), he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. They flew home immediately and Paul undertook aggressive chemotherapy beginning the first of the year, but it was to no avail. He died in his Cape Cod home early on the morning of Sun., Feb. 19.
“Buck was strong in trying to extend his life beyond the diagnosis,” his wife of 18 years said. “He uttered no complaints as he came to an acceptance of impending death. … It was the most difficult and most important gift I had to give to Buck as he so suddenly entered eternal life.”
That strength in the face of the ultimate tragic turn in life marked “the man who was my father,” said his son Paul. “He was a caring and loving father, grandfather, and uncle, a beloved husband, a true friend, always generous with his time and money, very successful despite his humble beginnings, an avid fan of the Irish Hit Parade. To me and my siblings, he was a real hero.”
Added Marian: “That was my ‘Buck.’ He supported me in all of my campaigning and social justice and political causes such as marriage equality, opposition to the death penalty, and economic fairness with loving and enlightened guidance and humor.”
To their families and their friends, there was never any question that Paul’s and Marian’s love for each other was central to the life they shared no matter the setting or the circumstance.
Paul’s early life followed a familiar pattern for a young man of his time and place, save for the two-and-half years he spent in a Carmelite Junior Seminary before returning home and enrolling at Hyde Park High School. Always a hustler, he found work while attending school, and at age 14 acquired a car.
Then came a stint in the US Army during which he graduated from its Language School in Monterey, California, was assigned to Army Security Agency, which meant duty at various bases in Germany translating intercepted messages for the US government.
Paul considered his time in the military a blessing. He said he was grateful he could serve the country and grateful, too, that the GI Bill helped him gain both a college diploma and a law degree from Suffolk University.
When it came to the practice of law, he mastered several positions. After a short time of doing what young lawyers do, he joined the Suffolk County district attorney’s team where he served as First Assistant District Attorney in Newman Flanagan’s office.
In times of private practice, Mr. Buckley was a partner in the firm of Buckley, Haight, Muldoon, and Jubinville with its offices in Dorchester and, later, in East Milton. He was widely regarded as a skilled trial lawyer who handled many notable cases as a defense counsel and as a prosecutor.
His law partner Barry Haight, whose personal and legal relationship with Paul spanned 57 years beginning with their graduation together from law school in 1960, called his friend a “paradoxical man: humble and simple, yet profoundly complex.”
Mr. Haight said Paul’s “great strengths were an unerring instinct for homing in on the right information to help make a case and his keen intuition about the ways and means of the people he met while doing business in the law – judges, witnesses, other lawyers and court personnel. In short, he was an expert at reading a situation.”
What made his friend stand out even more, Mr. Haight said, was his generous manner with colleagues in the law when they were looking for guidance. For them, “Hey, Buck, what do you think?” was the way to go.
He added, “Paul was quick to offer a helping hand to lawyers when they were in situations when things weren’t going their way personally or professionally. That’s who he was.”
The Boston lawyer David Eisenstadt seconded Mr. Haight’s motion on Paul’s lending a hand in a note of condolence to his widow on Monday morning: “He was a great friend of over 40 years and he helped me get through some difficult times. Nobody was more supportive or loyal. He was a great human being and very special.”
In the late 1990s, he was appointed to a district court judgeship by Gov. Paul Cellucci and presided mostly in Quincy until he retired at age 70. Later, he served as commissioner of the Division of Industrial Accidents.
Paul was a life-long joiner. He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of MA (1638) for more than 30 years, and chaired the membership committee for several captain commanders and advanced the application of the first female member in the Company’s history. He also spearheaded the restoration project of the Military Museum in Faneuil Hall.
He was also a member of the Clover Club, the Massachusetts Trial Lawyers Assn., the Rocky Nook (Kingston) Neighborhood Assn., and the Bass River Yacht Club on the Cape. He served as a town meeting member in Milton and as treasurer for the town’s Youth Hockey League.
As to avocations, there were many: Reading, crossword puzzles, football, soccer, gardening, cooking, studying his Irish heritage, and music and more music … classical, Irish, bluegrass, and folk.
And he was always at the ready with a generous ear. “He was like an uncle to all us,” said Bill Wallace, a longtime friend of Mr. Buckley, in reference to members of a young men’s social club that had its headquarters in the same building as Paul’s law office. “And you can be sure we needed advice on occasion.”
Mr. Buckley was the son of the late George R. Buckley and Marie G. (Cappazello) Buckley, with whom he was very close. An older sister, Barbara Langway, died last September and Paul was a kind and generous uncle to her children. In addition to his wife, he leaves three sons, Paul, of Collegeville, PA, with his wife, Mindy (Procopio), and their children, Lily, Paul, and Pearce; Michael, of Quincy, MA, with his children Sarah, Shannon, Erin, and Michaela; and Christopher, of Quincy, MA, with his wife, Jennifer (Mango), and their children, Christina, Caitlyn, and Brian; two daughters, Jacqueline Buckley, of Dorchester and Nantucket, with her husband, Jeffrey Allen; and Amy (Buckley) Hudach, of Quincy, with her husband, Christopher, and their children, Benjamin, Daniel, and Brayden.
He is also survived by his mother-in-law, 94-year-old Mrs. Mary E. Walsh, with whom he exchanged lots of love.
A wake will be held for Mr. Buckley on Wed., Feb. 22, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Gormley Funeral Home on Centre Street in West Roxbury. Revs. Daniel Finn and Edward McCabe will concelebrate a funeral Mass on Thurs., Feb. 23, at 10 a.m., in St. Theresa’s Church, West Roxbury. Interment will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, West Roxbury.
Those wishing to honor Paul’s memory may do so with a contribution to the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, 17 Court Street, Boston, MA 02108.
– TOM MULVOY
 |  |  |  |
