Edward Robert Buckley or “The Marble” as he is known to some, is a 1959 Gamma-Rho initiate. Since then he has made Kappa Sigma a major part of his life, contributing in any way he can to help the chapter grow and prosper.
“Ed has always impressed me in the way he could quote a lot of things in rituals of Kappa Sigma that a lot of people couldn’t,” said Brother Doyle Shipley, the 1993 Man of the Year. “He was always a loyal guy to the house. He would talk a lot of nonsense, but when it came down to it he would step up to the plate, whether it be with money, phone calls or whatever. He values the friendships.”
Brother Jim Gardner, who lived with Ed for a year in the Gamma-Rho house, remembers him as being a youthful, outgoing college kid who loved the bar scene and would always make you laugh or help a friend out.
“Our favorite bar was the Bayhorse on Grant Road. Ed always had an ability to go up to someone at a bar and just talk with them, even if he didn’t know them,” Brother Gardner said.
Jim also recalls the times that Brother Buckley would go out on the town with Mom Zel.
“She was about 70 and Ed liked to go out and drink martini’s with her on Miracle Mile,” he said. “He would also sometimes watch old movies in the afternoon with Mom Zel. Watching TV and drinking martini’s. Mom Zel claimed she never drank until she was 65. She started because her doctor said it would calm her down. So, Ed looked at it as if he was helping her.”
During his time in the chapter as an undergraduate, Ed served as Grand Master and played on many of the successful intramural teams. He was quite an athlete after being the starting quarterback for his high school football team in Oak Park, Illinois.
But, Brother Buckley has since grown up from his youthful days and has parlayed his experience in Kappa Sigma into many different successful careers. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1961 with a business degree in marketing. He used this degree to become successful as a stockbroker with Dean Whitter for 10 years and prior to that he was an executive with Ashland Oil for 15 years. At Ashland he was recognized as the top sales manager during his tenure. Ed then gave up the stockbrokerage business to become a manager of an Italian restaurant in Pasadena, California called Tarantino’s.
Brother Buckley is also involved in his San Marino, California community. He was the leader in the both the Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts and coached little league and Pop Warner football. Along with Kappa Sigma, Ed also contributes his time to the Holy Family Catholic Church YMCA and the Stanford Buck Club.
