Charlotte P. Buckley

Charlotte Bruno Buckley passed away on May 28, 2025 at 102 years old, surpassing her goal of living to 100 by 2 years, 4 months and 4 days.

Born in Philadelphia in 1923 to Maryanne Mullen and James Bruno, Charlotte was the sixth of eight children. By all accounts she was a cute, sweet and very skinny child, who was adored by her family and friends. Charlotte was very close with her brothers, Jimmy, Jack, and Al, and her sisters, Dorothy, Mae, Winifred and Dolores and remained close to them throughout adulthood.

After graduating from West Catholic High School in 1941, Charlotte went to work at the Veterans Administration. She first saw her future husband, James Buckley, walking down the street on her way to work. Upon seeing him she immediately said to herself “Boy, that man is handsome. I’m going to marry him someday.” And she did. They were married on January 31, 1948, and had four children - James Jr., Michael, Donna and Joanne.

In 1960, Charlotte went back to work at the University of Pennsylvania where she worked in data processing, eventually becoming the supervisor of her department. She loved her career, and retired in 1992 after 32 years of service. In 1997, following the death of her husband, Charlotte moved to Wayne to be closer to her daughter Joanne and her family. She loved living there and spent many days walking the track at Valley Forge Middle School, attending mass at St. Isaac Jogues and shopping at Gateway Shopping Center and the King of Prussia Mall.

Charlotte was deeply religious and devoted to her Catholic faith, attending mass and saying the rosary daily. Through all of life’s ups and downs, she never lost her zeal for life, or “pep” as she called it. She always had the energy of someone half her age, even into her eighties and nineties. She loved shopping (but not paying full price), knitting, a hot cup of coffee, watching television (especially any movie with Cary Grant), cleaning, bingo, bowling and making pound cake. She was a talented seamstress, loved making clothes, and was always a sharp dresser. She took great care of her body and mind by exercising, eating well and doing her daily puzzles. However, she also loved to eat, and blessed with good genes was able to eat without consequence, regularly enjoying cheesesteaks, pizza, chocolate and ice cream. She was a lifelong learner and always kept up with the latest trends and celebrity gossip. She emailed and texted well into her eighties and drove into her nineties.

Charlotte was an inspiration to us all and a wonderful mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and friend. She will be missed everyday by those who loved her, but her spirit and many life lessons will live on.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Maryanne and James Bruno; her husband, James F. Buckley, Sr.; her daughter, Donna M. Buckley; her son, James F. Buckley, Jr. (Lynn); her granddaughter, Jennifer Boyd (Derek), as well as all seven of her brothers and sisters.

She is survived by her son, Michael Buckley (late Rosemary), daughter, Joanne Tucker (Robert); her grandchildren: Meredith Martire (Scott), Michael Buckley (Allison), Ashley Altomare (Matthew), Shannon Crowley (Stephen), Colleen Tucker, Robert Tucker Jr. (Catherine), Andrew Buckley, Matthew Tucker; her great-grandchildren: Ava, Benjamin, Henry, Makenzie, James, Ryan, Charlotte and Charlotte and her many nieces and nephews.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit the family on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 from 7-9pm at Donohue Funeral, 366 W Lancaster Ave, Wayne, PA 19087, and on Thursday, June 5, 2025 from 9-10am at St. Isaac Jogues Church, 50 W. Walker Road, Wayne, PA 19087. Funeral Mass will be held at 10am Thursday at St. Isaac Jogues Church. Interment SS Peter and Paul Cemetery, Springfield, PA.

In lieu of flowers, buy yourself something nice but make sure it’s on sale! Just kidding, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation (https://www.parkinson.org/) or the Alzheimer’s Foundation (https://www.alz.org/).