Ms. Eloise East Buckle died peacefully with sand between her toes on June 19, 2019. She was 92 years young.
Ms. Buckle was born and raised on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She graduated from Onancock High School and the Norfolk General School of Nursing. After her nursing career at Norfolk General, she returned to marry and raise her family on her beloved Onancock Creek, where she spent the majority of her life. She was a devoted mother, grandmother, and friend to many.
Ms. Buckle loved everything Eastern Shore – its people, its culture, and its history. She loved reading and writing. She consumed newspapers every day and wrote a children’s book, “My Daddy Sez,” for her grandchildren, which her daughter-in-law, Joan, had illustrated and published. She loved politics and was very proud that she helped get Ralph Northam elected governor by persuading many residents to support him at The Colonnades, in Charlottesville, Va., where she lived the last few years of life.
Her daughter, Mary, was her primary caregiver during her final years. Without such devotion, Ms. Buckle’s quality of life would not have been nearly as good. And that quality of life would not have been nearly as fulfilling if it had not been for her longtime friend and companion, Dale Carros.
Ms. Buckle is survived by her three children and their spouses, Stewart and Joan Buckle, of Norfolk, Va., Tom and Lisa Buckle, of Decatur, Ala., and Mary and Stewart Searle, of Charlottesville; her four grandchildren, Wesley Buckle (and Rich Barnes), of Portland, Ore., Haley Buckle (and Corey Coxe), of Baton Rouge, La., and Matthew and Spencer Buckle, of Norfolk, Va.; and her newly born great-granddaughter, Allyson Coxe, of Baton Rouge, La. She is also survived by two sisters and their spouses and families, Val and Gary Williams and Kendall and Bob Harvey; and one brother, Richard East.
A celebration of Ms. Buckle’s life will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, in Onancock, with a reception immediately after the service in the parish hall. Burial will be private at the family gravesite.
Please consider a donation in her memory to the Eastern Shore SPCA, P.O. Box 164, Onley, Va. 23418, where she served for many years as a volunteer and as a president; or to The Light House Ministries, Inc., P.O. Box 54, Keller, Va. 23401, which she supported for many years.
Memory tributes may be shared with the family at www.williamsfuneralhomes.com
Arrangements were made by the Williams-Onancock Funeral Home.
