Thomas Joseph Buckley, Iii

Thomas Joseph “Tom” Buckley, III, passed away peacefully at home on Sunday evening, February 25th, with his wife and love Mary Lou by his side.

Tom lived a full and beautiful life. He greatly cherished and loved his family and friends, especially his daughter Michelle Buckley and granddaughter Avery Buckley Griffin of Hingham, whom he adored and was so proud of. He will be forever loved and remembered as their “Bango”.

Tom was born June 22, 1943, the son of Trudy and Tom Buckley of Boston. Tom spent his childhood in Dorchester and later moved to Quincy, he attended the Boston Latin School and graduated from Quincy High School.

After high school Tom entered the U.S. army and eventually served in the National Guard of Massachusetts. Upon receiving an honorable discharge Tom worked briefly for New England Telephone Company until joining Weeden & Co. to pursue a career as a stock broker. Tom’s career in the securities industry spanned more than fours decades and was marked with great accomplishment. Tom joined H.C. Wainwright in 1968 and in 1970 he moved to Drexel Firestone to manage their Block Services Group. In 1973 Tom went to work at Hayden Stone, which was later acquired by Carter, Berlind, Weill and Levitt, Inc., where Tom worked closely with Sanford Weill, and over the following two plus decades Tom was instrumental in the firms trading successes, navigating many mergers and acquisitions that eventually lead to the firm becoming the power house of Lehman Brothers. After many successful years managing the trading office at Lehman Brothers, Tom left to open the Boston office of Dillion Reed & Co. which shortly thereafter was acquired and became SBC Warburg Dillion Reed. Tom closed out his career at First Albany before embarking on his retirement in 2001. 

Tom had incredible energy and a true passion for life. He was always up for an adventure! As a boy he loved animals, especially horses and was given a horse by his father that he rode in the Blue Hills. That passion later led to many ranch vacations in Wyoming, to thoroughbred racing, and eventually ownership of a number of race horses over the years. Tom was an excellent handicapper who loved going to Saratoga Springs, NY in August and attended many Breeders Cup races across the country. Win or lose, he always had a smile on his face. 

Tom was a true Boston sports enthusiast. During the 1970s he established TJB Enterprises and held the rights to the Boston Bruins logo, manufacturing merchandise for the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup championships and the 1971 Stanley Cup finals. Tom was also a lifelong Red Sox fan and season ticket holder, never losing faith and celebrating every triumph of the 2004 season and World Series!

In addition to his wife Mary Lou, daughter Michelle and granddaughter Avery, Tom is survived by his step-children Loren (Yezmin Name) Howard of Roslandale, and Ashley Howard of Newton, sister Debrah (Alan) Hope of Tewksbury, niece Rebecca Hope (Devon Shull), nephew Charlie Hope, and seven sister and brother in laws and their families who loved him very much. 

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to greet the family during the visiting hours on Sunday 3-6 PM in the Keohane Funeral Home, 785 Hancock St., QUINCY. A Celebration of Life Service will be held in the funeral home at 9:30 AM on Monday prior to the Funeral Mass in St. Ann’s Church, Quincy at 10:30 AM. Burial in Mt. Wollaston Cemetery, Quincy. 

In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Thomas J. Buckley III may be made to Mass General Cancer Center in support of esophageal cancer research and Dr. Christopher Morse. Gifts can be made online at https://giving.massgeneral.org/donate/ or mailed to the MGH Development Office, Attention: Keith Erickson, 125 Nashua Street, Suite 540, Boston, MA 02114. Checks can be made payable to Massachusetts General Hospital, with tribute to Thomas J. Buckley III on the memo line.