Marian Buck was longtime teacher

DOWNEY - Marian Buck, a longtime teacher who worked with handicapped children in Downey for several years, died peacefully at home Jan. 9.She was born in Butte, Mont., grew up in Redondo Beach, and graduated from Redondo Beach High School in 1949. She attended the University of Redlands and San Jose State and began a teaching career in Compton. In 1955, Buck contracted polio. She spent three months in an iron lung and more than a year of hospitalization and rehabilitation at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Downey. This left her in a wheelchair, unable to walk, but she went on to complete her education at Long Beach State and Los Angeles State with a credential to teach orthopedically handicapped children. She taught at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital School and physically handicapped children in the Downey Unified School District until her retirement in 1987. Despite her own physical limitations, Buck once said of her education and career, "I never thought I couldn't." She married her husband, Graham, in 1960, honeymooned in Hawaii. She was a lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church of Redondo Beach, a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma International Society of Key Women Educators, where she held many offices, including president. Buck continued her education through Ominilore College of extended education. She was predeceased by her husband, Graham; her brother, Harrison McCandless, MD; and her nephew, Michael McCandless. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Barbara McCandless; brothers-in-law, Brad (Becky) Buck and Greg (Nancy) Buck; and nephews, nieces, cousins, friends and her caregiver, Scarlet Aquino. A celebration of life was held Jan. 19 at Rice Mortuary in Torrance. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to the Torrance Memorial Hospice Foundation, 3440 Lomita Blvd., Torrance, CA 90505.

********** Published: February 5, 2010 - Volume 8 - Issue 42