Jack Alexander Buchman

Eulogy from Jack's brother, Bill Buchman - Sarasota, Florida Jack was an incredible guy. Jack was an original and I will not be able to do him justice in these few short paragraphs. I am grateful and was fortunate that he was my brother. When you love someone a lot and they are a very good and loving person, it's very hard to face the fact of their departing this earth. Jack was such a person and we are all going to miss him more than we know. We already do. It's hard to list all his qualities because they are so many. It's hard to talk about them when our sorrow is so fresh because they just remind of our sadness to be without him. Let's be clear. Jack knew how to have fun and how to make life fun for those around him. We can all think of the boating trips, waterskiing, snorkeling, diving, lobstering, ping-pong playing, tennis playing, swimming, skiing trips, drag racing, lawn mowing and snow shoveling escapades, his "Jack" stories, his lobster stories and his "victory stories" (which he always won), and his "restaurant stories" (of which there were many) which invariably included educating the waiter or waitress on how steak or lobster should be prepared (which I am sure they all remember to this day), his figuring out how to make things work better around the house, and how to save a buck and how to make a buck. These are the things that thrilled him and we will always be able to smile when we think of these things. He really was an expert at having fun and the rest of us, as the years have gone by, have sometimes been too busy to stop to have as much fun as he was having. For me that's the lesson of his life. We should all be having more fun a lot more fun! Jack was as good a loving brother as one could ask for and a great and loyal friend, a terrific father, an amazing athlete, and, according to himself, a great lover, of which I have no doubt. Nothing could slow him down or stop him until the very end. Jack dealt with life's vicissitudes with a courage most of us can't even dream of. And I never heard him complain about the conditions he was saddled with in the last few years. Not once. Not ever. In spite of his having left us all too early I think we would all agree that Love was the principle of his life and he lived it with gusto. And, in his wonderful and utterly unique manner Jack's life was an unqualified success. ------------------------------------------------------------ Jack Buchman a Sarasota, Florida resident passed away Monday, August 17, 2009 from complications from emphysema and pneumonia. He was 66. He passed away at Lakewood Ranch Medical Hospital. His family and friends were by his side. Born September 13, 1942 in Albany, New York. Jack graduated from NYU Business School and continued in the footsteps of his father Louis Buchman and worked in the family business, Barclay Home Products in Cohoes, NY. His entrepreneurial business mind lead him to become a real estate investor, Reflections East discotheque owner during the 80's and 90's in Watervliet NY and later became a stock market trader for decades. Jack was survived by his daughter Debby Buchman Stehr of Gambrills Maryland, Sister Zoe B. Zak of New Paltz New York, Brothers Arthur Buchman of Copenhagen Denmark and Bill Buchman of Sarasota Florida , Aunt Ruth Braunstein and girlfriend Lauana Hadley. A graveside service will be conducted on Tuesday, August 25 at 11:30 AM at Wellwood Cemetery, Pinelawn, New York. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jack's name to the National Emphysema Foundation, 128 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851 www.emphysemafoundation.org