Mary Buckner Brubaker, 91, passed away very gracefully December 27, 2013. She was a resident of Emeritus at Mountain View Assisted Living in Ashland, Ore. Mary was born August 2, 1922 at West Point, N.Y. An Army Brat, her father was General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., and her mother was Adele Blanc. She was always very proud of her father who was the highest ranking American WWII officer to be killed by enemy gunfire, while commanding the Tenth U.S. Army at Okinawa.

Mary had a very gracious and creative life. She attended the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. She graduated from Stanford University and received a BA in English. She was the President of Stanford's Orchesis Dance Society. She later performed in Summer Stock Theater under the stage name Mary Claiborne in California and Canada. During WWII, she served as a Red Cross Club Hostess in California, and in Berlin during the airlift after the war ended.

She and her beloved husband, Edward (deceased 2009), lived many happy years in Lancaster, Pa. and in 1968 they moved to Ashland, Ore. with their daughter, Jenny. She was a member of various writer's groups, and self-published a book of her poems and photographs when she was 89 years old. Several other poems were published in literary journals and she won first prize for poetry at the Northwest Writers Conference in 2003. Mary was passionate about life, as expressed in her guitar playing (enchanting her nephews when they were young by singing and playing folk songs), her writing, photography, acting, speaking French, teaching and attending classes at OLLI, and dogs. Mary was a great walker, and it took a lot of effort to keep up with her pace. She and Ed were very active members of Trinity Episcopal Church in Ashland.


She was provided with the most loving care by her team of support staff, including care providers Guille and Mila; office assistant Charity; massage therapist; hair and nail care; guitar teacher; and care manager. Even dementia could not dampen her cheerful spirit.


She was predeceased by her husband, Ed, and her brother Simon Bolivar Buckner III. She is survived by her daughter, Jenny (David) Black; her brother, William "Bill" Buckner; her grandson, Rodger Royle; great-grandsons and great-granddaughters; as well as many nieces and nephews. She will be missed by all who realize that there will only be one Mary; multi-talented, very accomplished, and gracious to all.