John Richard ""Dick"" Pearce Buckner

John Richard “Dick” Buckner passed peacefully at home in Estes Park, CO on May 13, 2018 at age 87. He was born Jan. 15th, 1931 in Pleasant Hill, MO and was the only child of John “Jack” Thornton Buckner and Marjorie Ellen Pearce. He married Edith Mary Essex in 1951 and had 3 sons (John “Jack” Leslie Buckner, Michael Richard Buckner, and David Arthur Buckner) who were born between 1955 & 1961. In 1995, he married Sue Anna McDuffie Daghestani and they moved to Estes Park to be close to nature and enjoy living in the mountains that they both grew up sharing a great love for.

Dick grew up in Pleasant Hill and after high school he attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX and received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and later his M.S. in the same field. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corp during the Korean War. After his service, he worked for Continental Electronics for the next 10 years in the Commercial Broadcasting Department where he specialized in Very Low Frequency (VLF) and High Frequency (HF) communications related equipment.

For more than 5 decades, Dick was engaged in engineering, evaluating, and improving vital national defense communications programs. Working with Collins Radio, later Rockwell-Collins, Dick was a key developer of successful long-range, very-low and high-frequency, (VLF and HF) communications systems that were the centerpieces of America’s strategic nuclear deterrence command and control systems. With customers in the Space and Naval Warfare command and Navy Electronics Command, later Naval Air Systems Command, Dick contributed significant work to the development of the second, third, and fourth generation of the airborne Very Low Frequency EC-130 and E-6 airborne communications systems that linked national leadership with our strategic nuclear defense systems comprised of submarines, missile silos and long-range bomber forces. He worked daily with defense contractors, Navy operational leaders, Navy engineers, testers, and logisticians, as well as senior Navy headquarters, and senior Secretary of Defense communications systems policy makers. Later in life he developed a family of communications propagation tools used by the military and private HF “Ham” operators to improve their success in long-range communications.

Among the many projects he helped develop and support were US Navy shore-based VLF and HF systems and airborne VLF and HF systems known as TACAMO, Take Charge And Move Out, a powerful 200,000 watt Very Low Frequency transmitter. He continued to support improvements in long-range communications effectiveness well into his retirement years, providing advice and technical assistance to today’s generation of communications engineers and program managers.

As a result of his work with the Navy, he developed the ACE (Animated Communications Effectiveness) concept -- a method for allowing our submarines to communicate in a given situation. He most recently designed the ACE-HF system simulation software for use in military, commercial, and amateur radio applications that are used worldwide. This software allows radio operators to know when, where, and how they can communicate with others.

Dick also loved the outdoors and often used to hike into the backcountry and camp with his sons when they were younger. He still enjoyed hiking even in his later years and enjoying exploring off the trails and taking pictures of wildlife and scenery. Since he was a boy, he was also a railroad enthusiast and enjoyed traveling to historical railroad sites and taking pictures of old trestles and locomotives. He was an avid reader and could often be found with a book (or Kindle) in hand. He had a great love for Native American History, as well as Egyptology, gothic cathedrals, and pipe organs.

Since 1970, his future wife Sue worked right alongside Dick and they were recognized as “the” experts in their field. Their skills complemented each other so well that after 25 years, it truly grew into a great love story. At the time of his passing, they knew each other for 48 years and each put the other’s best interests ahead of their own.

Dick was extremely dedicated and driven to serve our country and had a pivotal role in ensuring the freedom and security that we enjoy today. He was passionate about his work and continued working until the age of 83 because he had enjoyed doing what he loved for so long.

The success of the programs that Dick developed and their longevity throughout and past the Cold War era is an accomplishment that Dick shared with a strong and supportive team, as well as the multitude of people that he mentored throughout his career. The communications systems developed during Dick’s working years continues to take to the air every day and assure the President and the Nation that our most powerful strategic forces are ready to defend us at that moment when they are needed most.

His legacy will not only be his work, but also his generosity and impact on those around him, as well as those who never knew him. He is predeceased by his 1st wife, Edith Mary Essex, his parents, Jack and Marjorie, his maternal grandparents, Dr. Gilbert Dorset Pearce and Minnie Huestes Shaw, and his paternal grandparents, John Armstrong Buckner and Mary Barrett Thornton. He is survived by his wife Sue Buckner, his 3 sons (John, Michael, & David), and his stepson Mel Daghestani.

Memorial contributions may be made to the following links or addresses of organizations that he strongly supported over the years:

• One Spirit Inc., which supports the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota at http://www.nativeprogress.org/en/

• Pleasant Hill Historical Society Museum by mail at P.O. Box 31 Pleasant Hill, MO 64080 http://www.orgsites.com/mo/pleasanthillhistoricalsociety/

• Rocky Mountain Nature Conservancy at https://rmconservancy.org/product/donation/

• Donations may also be made to these by mail c/o Allnutt Funeral Home 1302 Graves Ave. Estes Park, CO 80517.