James H. Bucksbee

James H. Bucksbee, 84, of McKean, died Tuesday, August 25, 2026 at Edinboro Manor. He was born in his Grandmother Horak's house in Reynoldsville, PA on Easter morning, April 5, 1942, the son of the late Claude (Buckey) and Veronica (Toots) Bucksbee. He leaves behind his wife, Diana; two daughters, Christine Bucksbee of Edinboro, and Kathleen Bucksbee of McKean; three grandsons, Andrew (Crystal) Orris, Craig (Laurna) Orris and Phillip (Lea) Orris, all of McKean; six great grandchildren, Alastor, Phoenix, Scarlett, Sophia, Clayton, Liam James arriving soon, and Adelaide Orris; and his fur-kids, Winchester and Remington, and grand fur-kid, Zoey, who followed him everywhere. He is also survived by a sister-in-law, Lisa Bucksbee, of Omaha, NE; a niece, Karen Bucksbee; and three nephews, John Jr., Steve and Brian Bucksbee. He was preceded in death by his brother, John D. Bucksbee and first wife, Patricia; and a niece, Kelly Bucksbee Gibson.

In 1944, Jim's family moved briefly to Erie, PA before moving to Meadville in early 1945 where, one month after Jim's 3rd birthday, his father was in an accident that would later claim his life. He survived for 3 months in Meadville Spencer Hospital with third degree burns over much of his body.

Jim's mother cooked for the priest at St. Agatha Church in Meadville. Although he was not yet of school age, the priest sent Jim to St. Agatha School with his older brother to keep him busy. He would attend school there through 6th grade. When Jim was 7, he would get up at 5 a.m., 6 days a week, to help the milkman, Mr. Joe Cerrinceone from Roha's Dairy, deliver milk. Mr. Cerrinceone would then drop him at school at 8:25. After school, he would deliver the Meadville Tribune along South Cottage/S. Park Avenue/S. Main Streets. He and his brother also sold the Sunday paper in front of St. Agatha Church after all Masses. On Saturday's, he'd hitchhike to Saegertown, where he mowed the Saegertown Distributors' lawn.

In 1955, Jim's mother married Hass Hoovler and the family moved to a farm in Athens Township (Drake Hill). He attended Townville Consolidated School District and graduated in 1961. During school he was active in the FFA and held various officer positions. He showed Brown Swiss dairy cows at the Crawford County Fair and Harrisburg Farm show. He received the FFA Keystone Farmer Degree on January 11, 1961. Generally only 3 to 5 percent of FFA members receive this recognition degree.

He also was a member of the basketball team, but resigned during his senior year to run the family farm by himself after his stepfather deserted them.

After graduation, Jim was accepted at Indian Institute of Technology, Fort Wayne, where he graduated from in 1965 with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. He was on the Dean's List 12 of the 15 quarters he attended there and was always proud of getting through college in just over 3 years. He was a member and captain of the college fencing team (epee). During college he was a drafting checker and tutored and became lifelong friends with Bob and Charlotte Hyer of Washington Court House, Ohio and later Raleigh, North Carolina.

Upon graduation, Jim married his high school sweetheart and moved to Seattle to work for Boeing Aircraft Company. He was then transferred to the Boeing plant in Morton, PA to support the development of their wind tunnel construction. After a year at Morton he took an engineering position in the Industrial Products Division of LORD Corporation in Erie. While working there full time, he earned his MS in Engineering Sciences from Penn State, a Penn State Paralegal Certificate, a Penn State Managerial Accounting Certificate and his Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Professional Engineering Certificate. He held several positions in engineering and engineering management during his 38 year career at LORD. He retired in 2005, but rejoined LORD in their Industrial Group in 2008, working 20+ hours a week, until his "final" retirement in 2015.

His last 10 years at LORD resulted in over 40 engineering trips to Taipei, China, Japan, Malaysia, Brazil, England, France, Germany, not to mention many domestic engineering calls to manufacturing plants of Peterbilt, Freightliner, Kenworth, John Deere, Caterpillar, Mercury, OMC, Case, Ingersoll Rand, and 15+ rapid transit authorities and consulting engineers.

Jim held 7 US patents. He was the first Zoning Administrator for McKean Borough. He resigned that position after ten years when he became a member of the General McLane School District School Board, where he served for 36+ years, 10 of those years as president. Parallel to this, he served on the Erie County Technical School JOC School Board for 29+ years, serving 15 continuous years as president. Whenever asked how long he'd been on the school board he liked to say "55 years", just to get a reaction. Prior to this he served as the McKean High School Band Booster president and enjoyed his years helping them. He was a member of the Gem City Outdoorsmen Club, where he enjoyed target shooting with his grandsons and friend, Jack Ball. He enjoyed going to the Sunday flea market in Waterford with his buddy, Rod Colburn. He was an avid reader of the Old West and loved the trivia associated with the West. For several years he volunteered and marked the football field for the McKean Jets football team and held the yard marker, always willing to help the coach, his longtime friend and working associate, Keith Hedderick (deceased in 2015). After retiring in 2005 he became a volunteer driver for the American Cancer Society and made many trips to Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo, taking patients for appointments or surgery.

Jim was a founding member of the McKean Lions Club, a life member of the McKean Usher's Club, and a member of St. Francis Xavier Church in McKean.

Friends may call at Glunt Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc., 210 Erie St., Edinboro, PA on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 from 2 to 6 p.m. A service will follow there at 6 p.m.

Burial will be in Valley Cemetery. Memorials may be made to McKean Hose Company, 5011 School St., McKean, PA 16426. To leave condolences, please sign the Guestbook below.