Obituary: Brendan Buckley, 1977-2023 

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• Courtesy
• Brendan Buckley

With profound sadness, we share the passing of Brendan Seamus Buckley. Brendan died from pneumonia on December 11, after almost three weeks in the ICU unit of Brooklyn Center Hospital, with his loving family at his side. He was born on October 13, 1977, to Jay and Claire Buckley. He attended Mater Christi School until the family moved to South Burlington in 1986.

From third grade on, he attended South Burlington Schools, beginning at Rick Marcotte Central School. During his junior year of high school, Brendan lived in Hameln, Germany. There, he became proficient in the language, and his love of travel was launched. As a National Merit Scholar, he graduated from South Burlington High School in 1996. He graduated from Brown University with a BA in history in 2000 and moved to New York.

Upon graduation, Brendan began his career with Orion Associates, a financial management consulting firm on Park Avenue. Years before COVID caused people to work from home, Brendan opted to work from home instead of traveling to his office in Manhattan.

This opened a world of opportunities to him, as he realized that “home” could allow him to feed his passion for travel. He lived in Buenos Aires for a year and a half and, after returning to Brooklyn, continued his travels through Asia, Europe and South America while fulfilling his work obligations. Throughout his life and his travels, Brendan had a great love of animals; monkeys were his unanimous favorite.

Brendan’s keen intellect and sharp wit served him well. He leaves friends in all the spheres where he traveled. As described by a friend, Brendan was talented, motivated and energetic. He is sorely missed by those who knew and loved him.

Brendan is survived by his partner, Sakti Firmansyah, of Brooklyn; his parents, Jay and Claire, of South Burlington; his brother, Patrick, and wife, Rose, of Milwaukee; and his beloved nephews, Louis and Isaac. In addition, he leaves relatives and friends throughout the world. A celebration of Brendan’s life will be held on Sunday, June 25, from 5-9 p.m., at the St. John’s Club in Burlington.