Former Dumfries mayor Bauckman, 79, dies

By Aileen Streng

Published: May 28, 2008

Former Dumfries mayor and town councilman Samuel W. Bauckman believed in community service and inspired others to do so as well. He also had great love for his family.

Bauckman, 79, died Sunday at a Fairfax hospital. He was a member of the Dumfries Town Council from 1986 to 1988, and was mayor from 1990 to 1998.

"There were three things that were important to my dad: family, friends and his community. He had cared deeply about all of them," said Bauckman's oldest of five surviving children, Claudia Smith.

Current Dumfries Mayor Fred Yohey said it was Bauckman who encouraged him to seek an active role in town government.

"He called me and asked me to put my name in for a seat on the council," Yohey said.

In September 1995, Yohey applied to serve out the remaining term of a councilman who had resigned. Yohey has remained in and around Dumfries town government ever since, and credits Bauckman for inspiring that.

Yohey said that he first got to know Bauckman while both of the families' children were growing up and attending the same schools. "I think I've known him for a good 25 years," Yohey said. "From a town government standpoint, I've known him about 12 to 15 years."

"He was very community-driven. He was raised in Dumfries and knew the history of it," Yohey said.

Bauckman was a member of Historic Dumfries Inc. for many years. "He loved history, family history and the history of the town," Smith said. "It was something that was of great interest to him."

Bauckman has been involved in many community activities having served as a Boy Scout leader, youth baseball coach, Sunday school teacher, and a parent teacher association officer and an active volunteer at Dumfries Elementary School where he often would read to the children or play the role of Santa Claus at Christmas.

Like Yohey, Dumfries Town Councilwoman Stephanie Bradley also credits Bauckman for encouraging her to get more involved in her town and eventually running for office.

She also said that she was impressed with how he ran the council meetings. "He always allowed everyone to have their time to speak. He officiated well," Bradley said. "He always took the time to meet with people. He may not agree with you but he always took the time. I'm really sorry he died."

"When he ran for mayor he did it because he really and truly cared about what was going on in the town," Smith said. "This is where he was raised, where all of us were raised. He made a lousy politician because you always knew where he stood."

Bradley would disagree. "He looked like a mayor. He talked like a mayor and he acted like a mayor," she said.

She remembers one occasion when her son was in elementary school and Bauckman had visited the school.  "He came home all excited. You would have thought they had met the president," Bradley said. "He was an engaging man and he will be sadly missed."

Bauckman was preceded in death by his parents, Samuel and Alice Bauckman; his daughter, Pamela Harrell; and his son, Dennis Bauckman.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Betty; his son, Samuel, and his wife, Grace; daughters, Claudia Smith, and her husband, Al, Robin Sexton, and her husband, Mike, Valerie Barlow and her husband, Mel; as well as Cheri Wrabell and her husband, Mike. He had 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. He also is survived by his brothers, Vernon and Bill Bauckman; and his sisters, Jackie Payne and Jean Lambert.

The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Mountcastle Funeral Home in Dale City. Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. at Dumfries United Methodist Church in Dumfries with interment to follow at Dumfries Cemetery.

Staff writer Aileen Streng can be reached at 703-878-8010.

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