Bruce Buckles, 74, of Elizabethton, Tenn., passed away Sunday, December 11, 2016, at Johnson City Medical Center following an extended illness. A native of Carter County, he was the son of the late Frank Carson and Tisha Scalf Buckles.
Mr. Buckles had worked as a farmer, auto mechanic and in construction. He loved going to church and served as a Pentecostal minister for several years. He enjoyed singing in church with his second wife, Virginia. Mr. Buckles also loved gardening and playing his guitar.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his first wife, JoAnn McKinney Buckles, and his second wife, Virginia Marie Harrison Buckles; a brother, Leonard Buckles; two sisters, Willene Slagle and Edna Custard; and a son, Paul Raymond Harrison.
Those left to cherish his memory include his daughters, Donna K. Gibson and husband Johnny, Elizabethton, Linda S. Gibson and husband Dale, and Mary E. Honeycutt and husband Jason, all of Hampton, Tenn., and Brenda L. Presnell, Greeneville, Tenn.; his sons, Scott Ritchie and wife Maxine, Elizabethton, Leslie Dean Ritchie and wife Mary, Donald Randolph Ritchie and wife Angie, of North Carolina, and Herbert Allen Ritchie and wife Sylvia, Elizabethton; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Betty Crumley and Irene Potter, both of Elizabethton. Several nieces and nephews also survive.
A service to honor the life of Mr. Bruce Buckles will be conducted at 7 p.m. Thursday, December 15, in the Sunset Chapel of Hathaway-Percy Funeral and Cremation Services with Rev. Wade Frazier and Rev. Johnny Persinger officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, prior to the funeral service. The graveside service and interment will be conducted at 11 a.m. Friday, December 16, in the Highland Cemetery. Active pallbearers will be Harvey Gibson, D.J. Puckett, Scott Ritchie, Dean Ritchie, Johnny Gibson and Randy Ritchie. Everyone will meet at the funeral home at 10:30 a.m. Friday to go in procession to the cemetery. Online condolences may be sent to the funeral home and viewed by visiting our website at www.hathawaypercy.com.
Hathaway-Percy Funeral and Cremation Services is serving the Buckles family. Office (423) 543-5544.