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Donald Buckthal Obituary
Carmel - The Rev. Dr. Donald R. Buckthal, age 96, died peacefully in Carmel, IN on May 28. Dr. Buckthal was born on December 26, 1924 to John & Emma Buckthal, farmers, in Freelandville, IN. He was the youngest of 7 children. Dr. Buckthal received his B.A degree from Elmhurst College, a Master of Divinity from Eden Seminary in St. Louis and a D. Min. from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. In 1988 Eden Seminary granted him an honorary Doctorate of Divinity.
Dr. Buckthal pastored two rural parishes, St. Peter's and Trinity United Churches of Christ, in Lamar and Fulda, IN respectively from 1948 to 1956. He served as pastor of Lynnhurst United Church of Christ in Louisville, KY from 1956 to 1970. From 1970 until his retirement in 1991 he served as Associate Conference Minister for the Indiana-KY Conference of the UCC in Indianapolis. During this time he drove an average of 50,000 miles per year to visit congregations throughout Indiana and KY, and he preached guest sermons in all 200 churches in the conference. He was known to all in the conference as the "pastor to pastors." Following his retirement he served as interim pastor of 3 separate congregations.
While at his pastorate in Louisville Dr. Buckthal also served as a volunteer chaplain for the Fire Department and chaired the board of the Brooklawn Children's Home. He served for many years on the board of United Church Homes, which owned numerous retirement communities. He served on many other church and community boards and committees as well.
Dr. Buckthal was married for 73 years to his wife, Ruth, who survives him and to whom he was deeply devoted. He was preceded in death by his beloved son, David, and daughter in law, Anne, and is survived by his daughter Diana Winston (Allan) and son Paul (Nancy) as well as his grandchildren Jill Buckthal-McCuin (Brandon), Josh Winston (Cindy), Julia Honold (Justin), Eric Buckthal (Tiffany) and Craig Buckthal (Ana) as well as 10 great-grandchildren.
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Memories and Condolences
for Donald Buckthal
2 Entries
Don Quayle
May 28, 2022
I served in three UCC conferences and Don was my favorite conference minister. When I was thinking of leaving St. John's in Ft. Wayne, I wanted to go to Ohio but Don said I have a church in Louisville I want you to consider. We ended up there. When we moved from there after eight years, we came to Christ Church UCC in Bethlehem. I asked and he agreed to preach the sermon at my Installation. I always thought the world of him. Ruth was from my home church in East St. Louis, IL which gave me a close link to them. He was a wonderful person and a great help to many pastors. He will be missed.
Don Quayle
June 29, 2021
Don was always one of my favorite pastors. He did an excellent job on the Indiana -Kentucky Conference and preached at my installation service at Christ Church in Bethlehem. My sympathy to all the family in this time of loss.
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