Jack Lewis Buckley

He grew up on a ranch in Colorado with a younger sister, Shirley. His father became a single dad when Jack was nine, and he moved his small family to Lakeview, MI. They settled with his cousin and her husband, George and Cheerful Nimberger. Together, the three adults raised their three children as siblings, so now he had another younger sister, Leone. It was because of that move that the Buckley family came to have a relationship with Jesus. They lived on the Nimberger farm, which was across the street from a one-room schoolhouse.

His future wife went to the same one-room school house and lived on his road. After dating a while, Jack and Deloras married on April 9, 1950. They first lived in an apartment on Prospect St. in Grand Rapids. He worked for Home Services while she worked at Michigan State Bank. After a couple of moves, they settled in Jenison, where they lived for 68 years and raised their five children. Jack started a trucking business, Jenison Equipment Company. Deloras worked as his bookkeeper, took care of the home, children, and garden.

They enjoyed traveling to all 50 states and several other countries. Retirement years were split between Michigan in the summer and warmer climates in the winter. They enjoyed pulling a fifth wheel or driving their RV, many times while also pulling a boat. He was a big NASCAR fan, and his favorite driver was Mark Martin. He was able to go to the Super Bowl of stock car races, the Daytona 500. He enjoyed being on the water, and shared the love of boating with many other families. Time spent boating and teaching young people to ski or water toboggan is a fond memory. He also loved to fly, and learned to fly when he was younger. There was more than one occasion when his young children would be “anxious to see the cockpit” of the plane they were taking to go on vacation. They may have gotten the souvenir wings, but he got the most out of the tour. Like his father, he was gifted with mechanical abilities. These came in handy when he was able to work on his cars and his trucks himself. Because Deloras liked to cook for others, they were very social and played many competitive games of cards with friends and family. As grandparents, they attended many of their grandchildren's games. He loved getting together with his family as often as he could.

Jack lived his faith every day, and shared that faith with many others when the opportunity arose. We were so blessed to have him as our father, grandfather, and friend.

Jack was preceded in death by his wife of 74 years and six months, Deloras; parents; parents-in-love; sister, Shirley; sister-in-love, Leone; infant brother, Frank; and an infant grandson, Michael Christopher. He is lovingly remembered by his children Mike (Cheryl) Buckley, Vicki (Jim) Rabbitt, Valerie (Tim) Gheen, David (Erin) Buckley, Steve (Chris) Buckley; 16 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Services for Jack will be 2 p.m. Sunday, February 22, 2026, with visitation from 1-2 p.m., at Bauer Community Fellowship, 4852 Bauer Rd., Hudsonville, MI 49426. There will be light snacks following the service. Instead of flowers, please consider a donation to Bauer Community Fellowship in memory of Jack. The family welcomes memories and messages at www.cookcaresgrandville.com in their online guestbook.