Thomas Buckley, S.J.

Thomas Edwin Buckley, S.J., passed away on November 8, 2017 at the age of 78.  Tom Buckley, Professor Emeritus of History, Santa Clara University, was a beloved professor at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley from 1996 – 2012.  A historian by training, Tom Buckley taught Church History at was then known as JSTB.  One of his former students, Julia-Claire Santos (Landry), M.Div. ’06 recalls of Tom:

"He taught me how to learn—to really learn—long after I️ thought I️ “knew it all.” Rather than confronting me with my hubris, he simply made the experience of discovery a fascinating, compelling adventure.

I️ still quake when I️ recall the words “—for an A or an F!!—” and how you’d rather be caught dead than caught having skipped last night’s reading when, mid-lecture, he’d point at you with this proclamation and ask some pop quiz query to inspect if you did the work."

Professor John Endres, S.J., remembers Tom Buckley as an effusive enthusiast with a love for life.  Endres recounts his colleague’s love for JST, “Tom Buckley was a very effusive personality.  So when he was a great mood, he would go around saying this was the greatest place in the world!  Tom was always full of ideas.  We sometimes said that his nickname was “We Should! Buckley”…in many ways he was just a breath of fresh air, an enthusiastic and effusive man…a very popular teacher, and a great lecturer.”

Tom entered the Jesuit novitiate at Los Gatos in 1957 and was ordained a priest in San Francisco on June 20, 1970. His academic interest was in history and he earned an MA at Loyola Marymount University in 1969 and a Ph.D. at The University of California, Santa Barbara in 1974.  Particularly interested in American history of the colonial period, Tom published many books and articles throughout his life that focused on this time period, including Church and State in Revolutionary Virginia (1977), Establishing Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Statute in Virginia (2013).

Before his death, Tom had been researching a new history book project: the history of Alma College’s move from the Santa Cruz hills to Berkeley, CA, where is became the Jesuit School of Theology and joined the Graduate Theological Union.  John Endres, S.J. notes that “he had all the historical materials collected.  In this project he saw how this move was for the Society of Jesus an expression of Vatican II.” 

Tom is survived by his brother, Fr. Mike Buckley of Jesuit Center, Los Gatos, and 12 nieces and nephews.  Tom’s funeral Mass was held at the Mission Church at Santa Clara University, and Tom was buried at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.