QUEENSBURY – The morning of Sunday, May 14th, 2023, John R. “Jack” Buchanan passed away peacefully at his home on Glen Lake, he was 93.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jack graduated from Central High School with a Bachelor of Arts degree and proceeded to Wharton Business School. Upon graduation, he went to work for Scott Paper in quality control before joining Finch Pruyn & Company. He spent the rest of his business career at Finch in the printing paper business. His focus was book publishing which meshed well with both his people skills & his lifelong love of words.
To say that Jack was an optimistic person would be an extraordinary understatement; he found sunlight in nearly every moment of every day and made every effort to live all of his moments to their fullest potential. He was a private, gentle soul. In November of 1977, he married his partner in life & dance, Jacqueline K. Buchanan. Together they built a home, a life and quietly supported & enjoyed music, the arts, education & helping other people grow to their potential.
After retirement, Jack & Jackie continued to enjoy travel, dance, music, gardening at their home on Glen Lake and charitable giving.
Jack’s guiding principles can be found in the poem “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann. He was true to those principles for his whole life, meeting & enjoying people for who they were & where they were at. He believed that people were on the earth to be productive and to contribute in whatever way(s) they were able; and that happiness, peace and self-worth arose out of those contributions. True to form, Jack rarely looked back, understanding that there are always two sides to everyone’s stories and that the most important component for a peaceful life is to accept outcomes & continue to move forward.
He is survived by his daughter Phyllis, her son Peter & his family, her daughter Kristin & her family; his son John and his daughters Torrie, Taylor & Brittany and her family.
The family would like to extend appreciation for all of his caregivers over the last nearly 9 years especially to his long-term caregivers Ashley (Duel) Cook & Amy Shattuck; his life would have been less full without your being there.
The Buchanan’s always radiated kindness and joy when I was young and they shopped at Doyle’s. My condolences on your loss.
It was a privilege to be John’s physician for a number of years before my retirement. He was a friendly and outgoing “people person”and a pleasure to know and advise from a medical perspective. He and his family are in my thoughts and prayers.
My thoughts and prayers to the families.
The Buchanan’s were wonderful, positive people and will be sadly missed by all that knew them. God bless you.
Nancy and I were saddened to hear of the passing of Jack. We have such good memories of working with him at Finch. We enjoyed his sense of humour and his professionalism. He guided Finch thru some difficult times and on a personal level he was always kind and supportive to Nancy and I.
Our love to all his family.