Commander William “Bill” Buckley, USN retired, died peacefully with his wife, Karen Hastings at his side, at their home in Oak Harbor, on May 14, 2007, after a seven-month battle with lung cancer. He was 65.

Born in Queens, N.Y., Bill served in the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps from 1959 to 1984, with sea tours on the USS Oglethorpe, Boxer and the carrier Intrepid. Rising to rank of Commander, he became a hospital administrator, serving at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Fla., and naval hospitals in Bethesda, Md., Leemore, Calif., Patuxent River, Md., and Orlando, Fla. He married Suetta Porter in 1962 and together they had five children.

Bill joined the Florida Department of Health HIV/AIDS Program in 1985, serving the Orlando Region, then transferred to statewide responsibilities at the State Health Office in Tallahassee in 1989. In 1991, he became the administrator of the state’s Cancer Epidemiology Program. Retiring in 1996, he was an active member of the UU Church in Tallahassee and the Tallahassee Writers’ Association. Bill and Karen were married in 1991. The couple moved to Grass Valley, Calif., in 1999 where he volunteered with the UU Community of the Mountains, the Interfaith Food Ministries and several organizations for retired service men and women.

Bill’s love of the sea and the smells of beaches with tide pools, shellfish and seaweed of his youth in Great Neck, N.Y., motivated a move to Whidbey Island in the fall of 2005, where he was active in the off-leash dog parks with his devoted “yellow dog,” Molly. An avid reader, he is remembered for his grasp of history, economics, world religions, public health and all things Celtic. He was a romantic man, with a deep generosity of spirit, who celebrated anniversaries, remembered the birthdays of all relatives, and who refused to hold grudges or “keep score.” With an Irishman’s love of good stories and a great sense of humor, he had a laugh that could fill a theater.

Bill is survived by his wife, Karen Hastings of Oak Harbor; son Robert Buckley and wife Janine, of Apopka, Fla., and grandchildren Jessica, Daniel, Joshua and Sean; son, Cleve Buckley and wife Sandy of Orlando, Fla., and granddaughter Haley; daughters Lynn Buckley of Apopka and Melissa Buckley of Tarpon Springs, Fla. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, first wife Suetta, sister Patricia Fesmire, and oldest son Michael. A military Honors Memorial Service will be held at a later date at Ft. Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola.