Edgar Raymond Buckley

Edgar "Ed" R. Buckley, 74, of Nottingham (Little Britain Township, Lancaster County), PA, passed away June 7, 2025, at LGH in Lancaster after having fought a protracted battle against complications arising from surgery in Philadelphia eight months prior. He was born in April 1951 in Lansdowne, Delaware County, PA. to Herbert Wayne Buckley Sr., and Hilda Catherine (Crawford) Buckley and grew up in Drexel Hill, PA. He was the baby of the family, and could always be found getting into mischief (never intentionally malicious) from a young age, giving his mother more than his fair share of her gray hair, and had a dry wit which was often kept under wraps depending on present company, but the twinkle in his eyes, when he was thinking something entirely inappropriate and best not divulged, was impossible to miss.

He married his soulmate Rebecca (Hannum), who survives him, on Valentine's Day in 2005, five months after they met (Dad, are you SURE about this?), and they spent twenty wonderful years together and had hoped for many more. (Yes, he WAS sure about it!) He is also survived by his sister Sue Hopkins (Tim), of Davis, Maryland; three sons, Eric R., of West Chester, PA., John M., of London, England, and Jeffrey A. (Li), of Media, PA.; three step-children, A. Quinn Hannum of Nottingham, PA., Kyle M. Hammond of Monroeville, PA., and Tyler E. Hammond AKA Kalyth Auwie of Dover, DE.; and three adored grandchildren, Zoey, Lucas and Scarlett. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Herbert W. Buckley, Jr.

Ed moved quietly through life as a result of a lifelong painful struggle with severe arthritic disease (which he refused to allow to define him), but that didn't stop him from disappearing in the blink of an eye in a big box store, leaving his wife to wonder how he could end up on the other side of the store so fast when HE was the one always telling HER to slow down. And if you asked him to speak in front of a crowd he would probably freeze, but slap a bass guitar into his hands and all bets were off. Since the age of 15 he had been playing and singing with bands in Delaware and Chester County, mostly rock, (Frigate, Beef Band, Satellite, Band With No Future, and Springhouse to name a few) but also did a stint in an Irish folk band, and more recently, three country bands based in Lancaster County (Running on Empty, Riff Raff and Fast Lane). Music was an integral part of his soul, and while he might not remember what his wife told him that morning, he had no trouble pelting out, on a moment's notice, the words to hundreds of songs that were housed in his head, plus remembering how to play them.

Ed could "MacGyver" anything (and he even looked a little like him). Give that man some string and Elmer's Glue-All and he could figure out how to make almost anything work again. He could often be found tinkering with one of his classic cars or motorcycles (a diehard Triumph man, although he deigned to own other makes if the price was right), but was just at home with amazing woodworking skills and shared the love with his wife of turning abused antique furniture pieces into something beautiful again, or doing restoration work on the old house they shared.

His employment, the first couple decades of his adult life, was a mixed bag of learned skills, including working in his father's floor refinishing business, construction, and commercial trucking, before he went back to school and became a Certified Plumbing Engineer, working for Giovanetti Shulman Associates in Broomall for many years, designing plumbing systems for high rises (think Atlantic City, NJ or Biloxi, MS casinos), before going into retirement.

When Ed wasn't working on something or playing music, he could often be found on his beloved sailboat, Dreamcatcher, before he reluctantly sold her, or, during the summer or fall, at his lakefront camp house, built almost 100 years ago by his grandfather, in Ellsworth, Maine. That was his Zen place, and is where he will finally rest. Don't worry, Ed, we'll hang the ship's lantern down by the lake for you.

A celebration of Ed's life will be held at a later date.