Greg
Buck, 37, firefighter was man of many accomplishments
He planned to restore a Brady's Pond home he and his wife fell
in love with
Date of Death 9/11/2001
By Karen O'shea
Advance staff writer
Saturday, 11/24/2001
Greg
Buck was an accomplished woodworker, registered nurse, classical
pianist and cook and that was before he joined the Fire
Department in 1995.
He
had graduated from nursing school and attended the Culinary Institute.
He played the piano so well he could have been a professional
musician, his wife said. And when Mr. Buck and his father restored
the family home in Huguenot, the two were recognized for their
work by the Preservation League of Staten Island. Mr. Buck, 37,
a Huguenot resident, had taken the Fire Department test years
earlier, but was ready for another challenge when the department
called in 1995. A firefighter with Engine Co. 201 in the Sunset
Park section of Brooklyn, he has been missing since the Sept.
11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center.
Among
his many talents, lending an ear to friends and family was one
of his best, said his wife, the former Catherine Morrison.
"He
could listen well, which I think is a talent not too many people
have," said Mrs. Buck, a nurse practitioner. "He always
appeared to be very quiet, but he was very special. He just smiled
all the time. He was warm."
The
two met in the early 1990s when they were both attending nursing
school at the College of Staten Island. Two months after they
graduated together in 1995, Mr. Buck joined the Fire Department.
They
married two years ago and were in the midst of planning a family
and buying their first home on Brady's Pond in Grasmere when the
Sept. 11 attacks turned their lives upside down.
Two
weeks ago, Mrs. Buck closed on the 1940s home she and her husband
fell in love with.
"He
was in the thick of making plans to restore it," she said
this week. He had plenty of experience.
As
a young man, Mr. Buck helped his father renovate the family home
on Jefferson Boulevard in Annadale. Mr. Buck and his father later
restored the family's second house, an 1880s Victorian on Huguenot
Avenue.
They
were honored by the Preservation League for that work, which involved
stripping and renovating the columned porch and restoring the
chestnut-trimmed interior staircase. Father and son ran their
own woodworking and cabinetry business before Mr. Buck decided
to go to nursing school.
He
graduated from nursing school with honors in 1995 and served as
master of ceremonies during the commencement. He also graduated
second in his Fire Academy class.
Mr.
Buck took piano lessons for a number of years and especially enjoyed
playing and listening to classical music. He often played at friends'
weddings, said his wife.
"No
matter what he did or took on, he always excelled at it,"
said Mike Conroy, a friend and fellow firefighter in Engine 201.
When
Greg Buck returned to Engine 201 after completing a rotation through
other firehouses, Conroy said, he built a humidor for the captain
and firefighters who liked cigars.
Conroy
said it was a custom wood laminated gift, with Engine 201's logo,
the Emerald Isle Fighting Irishmen, carved on the top.
A
graduate of Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, Mr. Buck also attended
the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, N.Y.
Born
in Brooklyn, he was 16 when his family moved to Annadale. He also
lived in Huguenot and Manhattan before moving back to Huguenot.
In
addition to his wife, Catherine, Mr. Buck is survived by his parents,
Ernst and Josephine Buck, and his brother, Eric.
The
funeral will be Friday from the Harmon Home for Funerals, West
Brighton, with a service at 11 a.m. in St. Paul's Memorial Episcopal
Church, Stapleton.
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