William Buck Lambert

William (Bill) Buck Lambert, 88, resident of The Woodlands, born October 12th, 1926 in New Haven, CT, went home to the Lord on January 5, 2015 after a brief illness. Bill was the son of Frank Lester and Coralie Buck Lambert of Glen Ellyn, IL. Bill was preceded in death by his loving wife Jannie (Jan) Sue McComas Lambert in 2000. He is survived by his daughter Sue Lambert Allen and her husband Kenneth Allen of The Woodlands, and son Mark Lambert and his wife Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert of Austin. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Mary Anne Tracy Lambert of Glen Ellyn, IL, who survives Bill’s beloved brother Robert (Bob) L. Lambert, and several nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews

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Bill was a 1944 graduate of Bennett High School, Buffalo, NY, and a U.S. Navy veteran of WWII, serving as a radioman, 1944-1946. Bill graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, class of 1950 with a dual degree in business and engineering and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. In 1950 he started work with A&P Supermarkets, in Cleveland, OH, specializing in distribution and warehousing. He transferred to Altoona, PA, in 1954, then Huntington, WV, in 1956. In Huntington, Bill met the love of his life, Jan, and they married on November 1st, 1958. Jan gave birth to their daughter Sue in 1959. In 1960 they moved to Youngstown, OH, where son Mark was born in 1961. In 1966 Bill was transferred to Pittsburgh, PA, and in 1967 to A&P Headquarters in NY, NY. In 1970 Bill accepted a position with Stop & Shop Supermarkets in Boston, MA, and the family settled in Canton, MA. Bill left Stop & Shop Supermarkets in 1978 to accept a position with his best friend Robert Tracy, of East Aurora, NY, to assist Bob in running his commercial construction and iron foundry businesses in Buffalo, NY. In 1984, looking for warmer climates, Bill accepted a position with Safeway Supermarkets in Houston, TX, which later became Appletree Supermarkets, which he retired from in 1992.

Bill never met a stranger, only future friends; he was a gentle man with a wonderful sense of humor, who loved spending time with family and friends, and who also had a special skill for mentoring children. Bill also loved the outdoors and traveling, and he was a voracious reader, especially of the detective or espionage genres, as well as history, especially about the Civil War. Bill was a 29-year resident of The Woodlands, and in his later years enjoyed spending the hot Texas summers in the little community of Fairfield Bay, Arkansas.

Bill was active in a number of the churches he attended, including the First Baptist Church of Norwood, MA, where he was a deacon, served in the choir, and taught Sunday school; The Woodlands United Methodist Church, where he was active with the Vacation Bible School, the Senior Ministry and the Special Needs Ministry; and in later years during the summers he attended and assisted with the summer Vacation Bible School at the Fairfield Bay Baptist Church of Fairfield Bay, Arkansas.

Bill volunteered for a sum total of over fifty years to a number of causes, including the Boy Scouts of America, which included serving as Scoutmaster in Huntington, WV; Interfaith of The Woodlands; Memorial Hermann Hospital of The Woodlands; The Friendship Center of The Woodlands; Glen Loch Elementary School of The Woodlands; and the Special Needs Ministry of The Woodlands United Methodist Church.

Bill’s life will be celebrated with a memorial service to be held at 11 am on Saturday, January 17th, 2015 in the Robb Chapel of The Woodlands United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Special Needs Ministry of The Woodlands United Methodist Church, 2200 Lake Woodlands Dr., The Woodlands, TX, 77380, Phone 281.297.5900, or the St. Labre Indian School, Ashland, Montana, 59004, Phone 866.753.5496.