An 83-year-old difference maker

(WOODBURN) — Born in West Virginia and raised in northern Ohio, Sara Buckingham was the youngest of 8 children. By her teenage years, she became used to caring for elderly people in need.

Today, the 83-year-old Woodburn resident still does.

Buckingham is also a willing participant in taking care of a segment of local history or anything else that her hands can tend.

Buckingham has been a longtime key volunteer at the Newell Pioneer Village historical site, located immediately adjacent to Champoeg State Park and attended by the local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter. And that’s just a slice of her contributions to the community.

“She became a live-in caretaker to a friend, unpaid, for 8 years after retiring,” noted Buckingham’s friend, Judy VanAtta of Happy Valley. “Her friend passed away last year, and her neighbor, whom she also helped out, is still on her list of taking care of.

“She is selfless and gives her time and energy to this day.”

Buckingham spent her working years with the Bonneville Power Administration, a firm from which she retired relatively early while in her 50s. She and her late husband, Bill Buckingham, focused significant retirement energy on state parks, serving as hosts, and historical sites.

“Bill was a historian as well as a businessman,” she said of her husband, a rubber industry executive, before retiring. He passed in 2008.

Sara Buckingham continued to carry the couple’s historical baton as part of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s caretaking of the Newell. That historical site receives thousands of visitors annually, including several thousand students who garner vivid, time-adorned lessons from the grounds and period décor, which dates roughly from 1850 to 1890.

“One kid said to me, 'How was it in the 1850s?” said Buckingham, who dresses in period clothing for her volunteer work at the museum.

However, what her life is like in the 21st century is something to take note of.

A quick snapshot of her life shared by her friends includes working at Champoeg helping with laborious tasks, such as peeling apples for the fall festival; teaching Bible classes and leading the Belle Passi Chapter of the DAR as chaplain for several years; volunteering at the charitable Ray of Hope Thrift Store; and generally taking care of anyone around her who needs it.

Buckingham’s contributions at Ray of Hope included washing donated clothing so that it was ready for sale. But it’s her personal actions that friends especially laud.

“Sara has voluntarily taken care of a neighbor who struggled with issues due to his age, infirmity, and lack of family able (or willing) to assist him,” Ellen Crauthers noted. “She took him shopping for groceries, checked in on him to be sure he was well, called for help when he fell and was unable to get up. She took him to church every Sunday that he was able and willing to go.

"She visited my mother when she was alive and living in a care facility — often bringing treats, flowers, cards, etc. to cheer her up," Crauthers continued.

“Sara doesn't know a stranger. She will start a conversation with anyone she meets,” Crauthers added. “That has made her the perfect person to work and now volunteer at the museum.”

That volunteer work ranges from leading school tours to leading events to making pies for fundraising auctions. Basically, if the museum needs something, Buckingham is there to help.

“She cares for people who need a kind word, a lift up, and to be seen,” Crauthers said. “Sara is a great example of the kind of person everyone should want to emulate. She is a blessing to all who know her — a heart of gold in that person of Sara Buckingham.”