The memorial service will take place Sunday, Jan. 7 from 1-3 p.m. at the Pine City Fire Department in Pine City, N.Y.
David Alan Buck was born in Danville, Pa. on July 29, 1959 to Joann Alta (Showers) and Jay Rorick Buck Sr. Dave Buck wrestled at Milton (Pa.) High School, where he graduated in 1977. Buck earned his bachelor's degree at Lock Haven University and received his masters from Mansfield University.
Buck was an educator for the Elmira City School District for 30 years, teaching physical education. He coached many sports during his time, including volleyball, softball, and most notably, wrestling, including as head coach at Elmira Southside High School (now Elmira High) from 1986-1996. Among the individuals he coached while at Elmira who achieved greatness on the mat was Jeff Reese, a New York State mat champ who went on to wrestle at the University of Michigan before he tragically died in 1997 while trying to lose weight for a match.
More recently, Buck served as an assistant wrestling coach at Elmira High School from 2009-2015 for head coach Dave Guyette, who had wrestled for Buck at Elmira Southside in the 1990s.
For all his contributions to sports, Buck was welcomed into the Southside Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
Steve Krouse, who wrestled as an elementary student for coach Dave Buck at the Mat Town Kids squad in Lock Haven, Pa., while Buck was a student at LHU, wrote on Facebook, "We lost a super hero this week. I have had so many incredible people influence me through my wrestling career. I have been so lucky. Without disrespecting any of them, Dave Buck ("Bucky" as we knew him) was super, super special."
"I remember many techniques and lessons ... His pop up stand-up. His explanations of hard work equaling success. His motivational speeches," Krouse continued. "We were really good, but we believed we were the best elementary wrestling squad in the world and I think Bucky believed it too."
"I wish I would have known he was fighting Mesothelioma," according to Krouse's Facebook post, referring to a form of lung cancer -- often associated with exposure to asbestos -- that also killed 1960 Olympic gold medalist wrestler Terry McCann more than a decade ago. "I would have most certainly have gone to see him. His daughter said in her post on here, that they gave him 6 months and he hung tough for 2.5 years. Doesn't surprise me...."
In a separate interview with InterMat, Krouse said, "He was a very gifted coach, even while he was still in college. I think about my teammates on that Mat Town Kids team. At least four of them went on to win state championships, two earned (NCAA) All-American honors, and two became Navy SEALS."
One of Buck's former wrestlers who went on to serve his country is Stephen Toboz, who lost his leg in Afghanistan. Responding to Steve Krouse's message on Facebook, Toboz wrote, "I don't feel right with him gone. He meant the world to me too brother! I wouldn't have made it off that mountain if it was for Bucky's leadership back in elementary school wrestling with Mat Town Kids."
Buck leaves behind three brothers, Jay, Gary and Scott; his former wife, Amy (Henderson) Buck, of Montoursville with whom he had three daughters (Elizabeth, Erica and Emily) and his widow, Valerie Bieber, of Milton.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, friends are encouraged to send donations in David Buck's memory to University of Pittsburgh Family House Administrative Office, 5001 Baum Blvd., Suite 545, Pittsburgh PA 15213, or to the Elmira Wrestling Program.
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