Alf Buckley
One
of the Greater San Diego Dart Association founders, Alf Buckley sadly passed away on April 7th, 2006. His passing was do to
heart failure.
Alf was born on December 29th, 1923 in Manchester, England. He lived through all of the night bombing
raids in England, during WWII, as did everyone living there at that time.
He
was an excellent table tennis (ping pong) player and was selected to play for his county, Lancashire, on several occasions,
which was quite an accomplishment. Alf was a big supporter of the Manchester City Soccer Club.
As an adult, Alf immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1962 in search of better work opportunities. Later
on in 1970, he got the chance to come to the United States, living for some time in Houston, Texas. Eventually Alf made his
way to Southern California, settling in Escondido.
Alf has three sons
and a daughter; Mark, Paul, David, and Sheila. In Escondido, Alf was a partner in "Crown Steel" along with Harry
Walker, Gordon Johnson, and John Carr. They make stainless steel fixtures.
Alf
really did not play darts much until he moved to Canada and the United States. He was involved early on when San Diego formed
the GSDDA, as was evidenced by his member ship number, 90. He was the captain of the Churchill Knights, which was formerly
the Camelot Knights, probably the oldest continuous San Diego dart team. Also, he was so well regarded that he received the
Trevor Mallison award, which entitled him a lifetime membership in the GSDDA.
Because of his commitment to darts, Alf was well regarded in both the US and UK. He had many famous darting friends,
among them John Lowe and Cliff Lazarenko. Alf will truly be missed by all of his passed teammates, friends, and family.