Gerald Leroy Buckland

Gerald L. Buckland, 83 of Dryden, went to join the other angels on Saturday, July 23, following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was born in Binghamton on May 22, 1939, the son of the late Charles and Flora Halpin Buckland, Sr.  He is survived by his wife Shirley, her children: Dawn (Daniel) Gonzalez, Donald (Jackie) Norman Jr.; grandchildren: Antonio, Armando Gonzalez, Alexandria, Paul Harding, and great grandson Owen; 3 brothers Charles, Jr. (Elizabeth), Leonard (Charlotte), Robert residing in a Horseheads Nursing Home; several nieces and nephews that he held dear to his heart.

Gerald served in the US Marine Corps from 1957 to 1967; he held the rank of sergeant.  He went to the Naval Parachute Rigger School and flew helicopters. Gerald was given a certificate for service from the White House by President Eisenhower. He worked in computer science at Cornell University, Ithaca College, and NYSEG where he retired after 23 years of service. He also belonged to a Data Processing Management Assoc. (DPMA/AITP) with which he had many colleagues and friends nationwide. A man with so much strength in body & mind, but also with kindness and tenderness of heart to hold a newborn baby or a kitten without harming them in anyway. He opened up his heart to a family and took them on as his own. He has never wavered from any task, always being responsible and respectable. He was a man you couldn’t help but love, a great loss to all who knew him. A funeral service will be held Friday, July 29 at 1 PM in the Perkins Funeral Home, 55 W. Main St., Dryden, and the family will receive friends from 11 am to 1 pm before the service. Burial will be in Willow Glen Cemetery with military honors. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Dryden Ambulance and Fire Department.