Eugene Buckner

Eugene Taylor Buckner, 88, was born in Provo, Utah, on August 22, 1929, the son of A. Dean and Fontella Taylor Buckner. He grew up on what was then known as the Provo Bench (Grandview Hill) and attended schools in Orem and Provo, graduating from Provo High School. He died of old age on March 21, 2018, at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo.

Gene served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Northern California. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1955 with a degree in horticulture. As a result of his participation in BYU’s ROTC program, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Air Force. Early active duty assignments took him to Columbus, Mississippi; Mission, Texas; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. In Cheyenne, he met Vivian Jones, whom he married in the Salt Lake Temple on April 25, 1956. Gene had been transferred to Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, shortly before their marriage. He returned to Hawaii after the wedding with his new bride where they remained for the first 18 months of their marriage.

Gene and Vivian moved back to Provo where they lived for almost all of their 61 years of marriage. Gene returned to BYU, earning a master’s degree in personnel and guidance and a doctorate in educational psychology. He worked for the next 25 years in BYU’s Counseling Center, retiring in 1990. He also started a drug treatment program at Utah Valley Hospital in the mid-1980s and continued as a practicing psychologist at pain clinics in the valley after his retirement. He also continued his military involvement, serving in the Utah Air National Guard, retiring with the rank of Lt. Colonel.

Gene was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in many callings, including three years as Bishop of the BYU 95th Ward in the late 1970s. He served at the Provo Temple for more than 20 years.

Gene was preceded in death by his wife Vivian; his parents; his older brother Glen Taylor Buckner, and a daughter, Pat Diane Buckner. He is survived by his children: Cari Lee Buckner of St. George, Utah; Kathy (Robert) Rowe and Chris (Lisa) Buckner of Orem, Utah; and Ann (John) Harrison of Rose, Oklahoma. He had seventeen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a sister, Marilyn (Norman) Eatough of Provo, and a brother, Dean (Judy) Buckner of Alpine.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, March 30, 2018, at 11 a.m. in the Grandview 6th LDS Ward Building located at 1600 North 1880 West, Provo, Utah. Viewings will be held on Thursday, March 29, 2018, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary located at 495 South State Street, Orem, Utah, and on Friday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. just prior to the funeral services at the church. Burial will be in the Provo City Cemetery.

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