Clayburn Calvert "Buck" Kuhn, Jr, age 82, went Home to be with the Lord June 16, 2022 at 8:30 in the morning. Funeral services will be 2:00 pm Sunday, June 26, 2022 at Unity Grove Methodist Church in Reform, AL with Rev. Al Thomerson officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery with Skelton Funeral Home of Reform directing. Visitation will be one hour prior and immediately following the service at the church.
Buck was born January 8,1940 in Charleston, WV to Adra Virginia Hall and C. C. Kuhn, Sr. He lived in Charleston until he was nine years old, when he went to live at Rose Hill Farm in Rappahannock County, VA. He was raised by his grandparents, Adra Summerville and William Hall. He graduated Rappahannock High School in 1957 and in 1958 he joined the United States Air Force and was stationed in North Africa during the Viet Nam Era. After he got out of the Air Force in 1961, he went to live in Texas and married Marilyn Jeanne Rosenthal. They had two sons, Edward and Robert.
Buck moved to Alaska after reading Russell Annabelle's adventure series, taking his young family with him. He went to work on the North Slope on the first oil well, but was laid off when they couldn't get the oil out of Prudoe Bay. He started his own company, Statewide Blasting and Perforating Services offering specialized explosive work to well drillers and homeowners. He operated his company as a sole owner business until he became ill in 2021.
He married Ginger Hammond Boatwright in 1994 after meeting her at a bluegrass festival in Alaska. He said "I chased her 'til she caught me!"          Buck was preceded in death by his grandparents, James and lcie Lee Kuhn and William and Adra Summmerville Hall, parents Clayburn C. and Virginia Hall Kuhn Sr, former wife Marilyn Rosenthal Kuhn, and brother Philip Lee Kuhn.
He is survived by his sister Beverly Kuhn Blackshire (Gene), sons Edward Lee (Angela) and Robert William (Valerie), wife Ginger and her daughter Danae, and 8 grandchildren and two great granddaughters.
Buck was an avid hunter, fisherman and trapper which were three of his favorite things to do in Alaska. He became a game guide, taking hunters by horseback on hunting/camping trips into wilderness areas looking for moose, caribou, sheep and bear. At age 36, he decided to learn to fly an airplane, and became one of the best bush pilots in the state. He had a small side business called Wilderness Air Tours of Alaska which he operated for about ten years. He would still take people he met on flights, but it was for pleasure, as he loved flying over the glaciers and into the mountains to show off his adopted state.
Buck had an old Gibson Dove guitar, and for 15 years he had a music group he called Down Home Gospel. He and several of his airplane flying buddies would load up equipment, performers and his old Gibson and head for the bush to bring gospel music to people who otherwise didn't have access to such concerts. He said that he had played every kind of church imaginable, and they all had one thing in common - they were all trying to get to the same place.
He built his home in Chugiak, AK at the end of a road which he had cut through the wilderness. The municipality grew out to meet him, but he never got tired of "living on the creekbank". Bear and moose wandered through the yard late spring to late fall, and he really thought it funny when a bear would come walking through the yard while visitors were standing there gaping. He was a great storyteller and had experiences most people never even dream possible. He was a fascinating man who had a fascinating life. He never got bored!                                                            In 1998 he had a half pound of dynamite go off in his left hand. He said he was sure that the Lord or the angels would be there any minute to take him Home. He never lost consciousness and walked out of the hospital 2 weeks later under his own power. He was an amazing man who loved his God, his family, his friends (even the ones he hadn't met yet), and had a smile that shone like a ray of sunshine.
In 2020 he wrote and published a book, Alaska Water Well Blasting & Perforating, which has been very well received!
He will be missed and loved until we meet him again in Heaven.                                                                                                                            Pallbearers will be Nathan Fulgham, Greg Tubbs, John Hammond, Jr., Brandon Kuhn, Joe Kuhn and Frank Duren.                                                  Honorary Pallbearers are Marcus James, Ken Junkins, Ed Kuhn, Bob Kuhn, Freddie Hammond and Harry Wilkins.                                                    In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Unity Grove Cemetery Fund, 6511 County Road 3, Reform, AL 35481.