Paul W. Buckwalter

Paul W. Buckwalter The Rev. Paul William Buckwalter was born October 9, 1934, in Orange, NJ. He died on February 16, 2016 in Tucson, AZ of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, at the age of 81. He is survived by his wife, Sandra Cason (Casey Hayden); children, Corry Buckwalter Berkooz and Aaron M. Buckwalter; step-children, Donald C. Boyce IV, Rosemary L. Boyce, Susan Shell, Betsy Shell, Peter Shell, Michael Shell, and Katy Shell Virasingh; grandchildren, Hana Berkooz, Rephael Berkooz, Samuel Berkooz, and Isabelle Buckwalter; step grandchildren, Kieran Shell, Emmett Shell, Tazma Shell, Taro Shell, and Alexander Virasingh; aunt, Ann Buckwalter Evans; nephews, Andy Langhauser and Derek Langhauser. Fr. Buckwalter, an Episcopal priest who served as Executive Associate at St. Philip's in the Hills, Tucson, was recruited to broaden the church's reach into the needs of the Tucson community. A longtime religious leader in Southern Arizona, he was a founding member of Pima County Interfatih Council, a founding board member of the Primavera Foundation, and a leader in the Sanctuary Movement. Prior to moving to Tucson in 1984, he served parishes in Cincinnati and Alaska, as Health Director for the Penobscot Indian Nation in Maine, as Episcopal Chaplain at the University of Cincinnati and later at the University of Arizona. He was statewide organizer for the Arizona Interfaith Network and active for his entire professional life in the Industrial Areas Foundation's community organizing efforts on behalf of social justice. Fr. Buckwalter was a graduate of Deerfield Academy and Yale University (BA, MAT), where he was a member of Zeta Psi and Scroll and Key. He was a graduate of the Episcopal Divinity School (M. Div.) and the University of Cincinnati's Department of Community Planning (MCP). Following his service in the United Sates Army in Korea, he served on the faculty of the International Christian University, Tokyo. He later taught in the graduate planning departments at the University of Cincinnati and at Seabury Western Seminary, Chicago. In his later life, he resumed his study of Zen Buddhism, begun while he was teaching in Japan. A memorial service will be held at St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Pima County Interfaith Coucil, 3200 Los Altos, Tucson, 85705, or to the Zen Desert Sangha Landscaping Project, PO Box 44122, Tucson 85733. Peace to all beings. Arrangements by DESERT ROSE HEATHER MORTUARY.