Obituary of Buckley Vaughn Heater

Buck was born in Tacoma January 31, 1953, and lived here his entire life. He passed away in his Tacoma home on January 24, 2009. He is survived by his mother, June Heater, of Tacoma. Buck was preceeded in death many years ago by his father Vern. He will be laid to rest in the family plot at Mountain View Cemetery. There will be no services. As Buck was an only child he especially enjoyed the company of others, and had many, many friends, some of whom were like brothers and sisters to him. Naturally, with his father gone, he and his mom were very close. He was loved by all. He had a great career as a hair stylist and later added massage therapy to his resume. Those of us who knew him will all agree he was one of the best in the business. He was one of a kind and had the type of personality which attracted more and more friends. Among his hobbies were camping, canoeing, partying, and enjoying spectator sports like boxing and football (go Seahawks!). And don't forget about his wine making. For nearly fifteen years he and two of his close friends created lots of specialty wines such as banana/pineapple, mango, blackberry/cherry, as well as assorted grape variations. Maybe you tasted some. Remember "plum crazy" and "dope-a-lope" (cantelope)? What about those years he and friends went snow inner-tubing at Crystal Mountain? His smiling face was just beaming after a good run, and a good sip from his bota-bag. Then there was the exciting years of white water rafting. From class III to V (extremely challenging). He hit almost all the rivers in western Washington, such as the Puyallup (with Deadman's Curve), the Nisqually (midnight rafting), the Green (the Gorge), and the most technical and wild, the Skykomish (helmets required). Hey, don't forget the Toutle River which runs off Mt. St. Helens. He did that one too, on the 5 year anniversary of the eruption! He called it "Devistation Day". And with many of those same rafters he spent summer after summer going to Seafair and watching the hydros from the "Sampan", an ocean survival raft. "Fun city" he would say. He also loved to travel and visit long distance friends as far away as Hawaii and Florida. Each summer he spent July 4th over the mountains in George, WA. More friends there. And apple blossom time in Wenatchee. More friends there, too. Thanks Buck, for those great times and memories. We all love you and miss you, but you'll always live on in our hearts and minds. Buck wanted a wake, and that is still in the planning stage. Time and date will be posted when finalized.