Myra and Martin BUCHNER

BUCHNER, Myra Rose O'Donnell BUCHNER, Martin Stan Myra Rose O'Donnell Buchner, born January 14, 1921, and Martin Stan Buchner, born July 6, 1920. Since they were twenty years old, they have done just about everything together. Myra and Martin shared that rare gift of being truly in love and deeply respectful and supportive of each other for their entire 73-year marriage. Myra Buchner died at home on the evening of November 25 at Friends House in Santa Rosa. She was 94. Martin Stan Buchner died at his son's home in Sebastopol on December 2. He was 95. Myra and Martin (Stan) are survived by their son, Lewis Neal Buchner, and their granddaughter, Kiah Lin Buchner. Myra was a skilled designer and craftsperson. She studied at Pratt Institute in New York, and designed and sewed couture-quality clothing. In the 1950's she was, along with Martin, a co-founder of New Jersey Designer Craftsmen, which evolved into the American Crafts Council. In the 1970's through 1990's Myra worked as a museum exhibit designer at the Morris Museum of Arts and Sciences and the Montclair Art Museum. She also produced a significant body of her own work in fabric stitcheries, mixed media collage, and self-made paper. She served as Chair of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts Exhibition committee for many years. Myra was an avid reader and book group member, with an ever-present dry sense of humor. Friends and strangers were always welcome at her dinner table or for a glass of white wine, and she understood the importance of "healthy foods" long before that was cool. In that way, as well as many others, she was ahead of her time. Martin graduated from Newark State College and then served as an officer (Captain) in the US Army Ordnance Dept., World War II European Theater, from 1942 to 1946. He founded The Buchner Company in East Hanover NJ, a small furniture manufacturing company making furniture of his own design. He, along with Myra, was a pioneer in the resurgence of US contemporary design and crafts from the 1950's onward. After selling The Buchner Co, Martin earned a MA in Fine Arts from New York University and became a professor of Design on the Fine Arts Faculty at Kean University of New Jersey. Martin was an active board member for the non-profit Burbank Housing Development Corp from 1986 to 2009. Martin (Stan) had a witty sense of humor and a unique ability to connect with others in a way that was meaningful to them - whether his rural neighbors in Maine, his university colleagues, or a small child; he radiated a genuine kindness and understood the importance of friendship. He cared deeply about the world around him right up to his last day. A memorial will be held at Pleasant Hills Cemetery in Sebastopol on Saturday December 19th at 11:00 a.m.