Wisner H. Buckbee Sr., a longtime resident of Warwick passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. He was 83 years old.
Born in Goshen on Sept. 2, 1936, to Edith (Polgreen) and Wisner Buckbee, he was the ninth generation of Wisners.
A 1955 Warwick Valley High School graduate, he was also a graduate of the Reisch School of Auctioneering in 1962. Wisner was inducted into the Warwick Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
Wisner served as Chairman of the Board of OCCC 1994-96, as well as Chairman of the Board of Warwick Valley Telephone Company 2001-2011.
Although there was always plenty to do on the 400+ acre registered purebred Holstein dairy farm he and his family operated, Wisner was very involved in his community, both in promoting the farming community and civically.
Wisner was an active member of numerous farm business organizations, having served as president or chairman of the following: Downstate Milk Producers Co-op, Inc., Agway Energy Products, Washingtonville Agway Co-op store, Orange County Farm Bureau, Orange County D.H.I.A., State Director for the Holstein Association, and on the Advisory Board to Farm Credit System.
He was also an approved judge for all breeds of cattle; was active with the 4-H programs and FFA.
His successful farming started at a young age, earning NYS Outstanding Young Farmer in 1965 and a Distinguished Service Award in 1966, the same year Wisner Farms, Inc., established in 1770, received the NYS Agricultural Society Century Farm Award.
Twenty years later, Wisner placed in the top 100 out of 8,500+ contestants in stock picking in Barron’s Financial Weekly Newspaper.
In 1989, Wisner Farms, Inc. was recognized as a Bi-Centennial farm(operating for 200 years), one of only a few in the northeast United States, having 8th, 9th and 10th generations of the Wisner family living on and operating the farm.
The same year, the farm also earned the Dairy of Distinction Award from the American Dairy Association.
Wisner served his community on the Warwick Planning Board and as a Town Councilman.
Elsewhere in the Warwick community, he was a member of the choir at the Warwick Reformed Church; an active member of the Warwick Jaycees, Warwick Rotary Club, Warwick Masonic Lodge 544, the Agricultural Advisory Board of the Warwick Valley Central School District, Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce, St. Anthony Hospital Century Club; Orange County Citizens’ Foundation and the Warwick Historical Society.
He was a retired Trustee and Chairman of the Board of the Albert Wisner Public Library (which was started with a memorial fund established to remember his relative, Mrs. Albert Wisner in 1927.) He also served as president of the Locust Hill Cemetery Association.
Wisner is survived by his wife Gladys (Bullock) Buckbee; son Wisner H. Buckbee Jr. of Warwick; daughters Annie Barrett and her husband Dave of Sheldon, Wisconsin, and Carol Ronne and her husband Arthur “Skip” of Warwick; nine grandchildren: Gwynneth, Brigitte, Charity and Hannah Buckbee, Blane and Shane Hulle, Samantha Ewings and husband Bruce, Arthur Jr. “Skip” and Alex Ronne; nine great-grandchildren: Caleb and Mason Logan, Addison, Tucker and Jasper Hulle, and Ella, Mark, Liam and Noah Ewings; sister Grace Ainslie of Kansas City, Mo.; brother Albert W. Buckbee II and his wife Judy of Warwick; and several nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his parents; daughter-in-law Linda Buckbee and granddaughter, Emily Ronne.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of one’s choice.
Because of the COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings, a memorial service will be held at a later date.
Private burial arrangements in Warwick Cemetery have been made by Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home in Warwick.
To send an online condolence, please visit www.lsvpmemorialhome.com.