David Buck Memorial Page

Pride of HerndonClass of 2007

 

One of our own, David Buck, Pride Class of 2007, lost his battle with cancer on July 30, 2010.  David died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family.  He was not yet 22.  The thoughts and prayers of the entire Pride of Herndon Band family are with David’s mom, Lori, his dad, Gene, and his brothers, Andrew (HHS Class of ’03) and Nate (HHS class of ’01).  David was not the only member of the Buck family to join the Pride – Andrew spent four years with our Band as a trumpet player.  You may send your condolences to te Buck’s home at 11811 Briar Mill Road, Reston, VA 20194.  A memorial service for David will be held on Saturday, August 21 at 3:00pm at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 2589 Chain Bridge Road, Vienna, VA.  Click here for a link to the University of Delaware web site announcement about this service.  Our Band Aid Chair, Davida Luehrs, will keep us apprised of ways in which we can support the Buck family in their time of grief.

 

David played marimba in the pit during his sophomore year and marched with the drum line on bass in the years following.  He joined the newly formed Percussion Ensemble during his junior year and Wind Ensemble senior year.  Read David’s bio below.  He truly was an exceptional young man.

 

David’s life was cut short by rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer.  His selflessness and generosity are evident even in death, as it was his wish for his tumor to be used for medical research to find a cure for “rhabdo.”

 

In June, HHS Band students and their families, past and present, participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.  Click here to see some pictures of the event.  “Team David” was organized by band parent Davida Luehrs (Jimmy ’11, Rachel ’08, Jessica ’06) to honor and celebrate David, who graced our percussion section not so very long ago.  David’s mom wrote this touching recap.David’s Bio

 

“Maturity is the capacity to endure uncertainty.” — John Huston Finley from David’s Facebook page

 

David Buck, 21, graduated with the Herndon High School Class of 2007 and for three years was a member of The Pride of Herndon Marching Band.  He played marimba in the pit during his sophomore year and marched with the drum line on bass drum during junior and senior years. He joined the newly formed Percussion Ensemble during junior year and the Wind Ensemble senior year.

 

David also pursued his interests in theater and singing. He was cast in the spring 2004 production of “Les Mis” and performed in HHS’s annual Cabaret for two years.  He sang baritone with the Vocal Jazz Ensemble from sophomore through senior years.

 

As much as David loved music, he loved science and math more.  He became a chemical engineering major at the University of Delaware, with minors in chemistry, physics and mathematics.  During spring semester of his freshman year, however, he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive cancer, in his sinus.  He left school for nine months of chemotherapy and radiation, and returned to campus in February 2009.

 

Even though the tumor was still active and required ongoing treatment, David was able to complete the spring and fall 2009 semesters at UD.  In the fall of 2009 he spent three to five days every three weeks at Johns Hopkins where he received inpatient chemo.  The Hopkins nurses loved to talk about how David was the only patient they’ve known who lugged his heavy physics and chemistry textbooks to the hospital and actually studied while undergoing treatment.

 

David was named to the dean’s list all three semesters he was able to attend UD.  The university honored him with the McCoy Award for academic excellence in the face of challenging life circumstances at the College of Engineering Honors Day ceremony in May 2009.  He also received the Burmeister Award for the top grade in Chem 111 in fall 2007.

Despite this progressive disease, David completed a long-awaited internship at the Institute of Energy Conversion in January 2010, where he worked with solar cells.

David was a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Alpha Lambda Delta (National Honor Society for First-Year Students) and the UD Student Television Network.  His interests included nuclear power, physics, solar cells, space elevators, research, motorcycles and photography.

 

David lived in Reston with his parents, Gene and Lori.  His older brothers, Nate ’01 and Andrew ’03 (who played trumpet with the Pride during his four years at HHS), live in Northern Virginia.  David also was a student at Aldrin and Forest Edge elementary schools and Langston Hughes Middle School.