William Muir Bucher Sr. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

   FamilySearch ID: GZ4H-RTL.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Biography. ³ The second of four children of Harold and Marion Bucher of Mt. Lebanon, PA, William M. "Bill" Bucher attended Mount Lebanon Public Schools, attended Franklin and Marshall Academy in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for his senior year and was a member of the last class to graduate in 1943 before the Academy closed permanently. Immediately after graduation Bill joined the armed services and was sent to a variety of military training camps all over the country before being sent to Europe a few months after D-Day. He was a member of the Anti-Tank Company of the 424th Infantry Regiment, one of three such regiments of the 106th Infantry "Golden Lion" Division which saw action during the Battle of the Bulge. Only 19 years old in December of 1944, he was briefly a German prisoner of war before being liberated in a counter-attack by members of his own battalion. He was a recipient of the Combat Infantryman's Badge (CIB) and the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) and his unit was awarded the Belgian Fourragère 1940 (424th Infantry cited per DA GO 45, 1950) for actions during the Bulge. Upon his return he attended Bucknell University on the GI Bill and graduated in 1950; he obtained a Master of Hospital Administration degree as a member of the first class of Medical College of Virginia to receive such a degree and earned a Bachelor of Commercial Science Degree in Accounting from Benjamin Franklin University. In 1952 he became the Executive Director of the newly formed Hospital Council of the National Capital Area, Inc. where he was employed until his death in April of 1978. Bucher was the principal author of the "District of Columbia Medical Facilities Construction Act of 1968," the first of several such pieces of important federal legislation adopted by the 90th Congress as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty" legislative agenda, also known as the "Great Society." Bucher was survived by his wife Claire Marie Harth and their three children: William Jr., Anne and Patricia, all of the home.

2. Census in 1930 in Mount Lebanon, Allegheny, PA. ⁷ The 1930 census recorded owning a $13,500 home at 134 Marlin Drive in Mount Lebanon: Harold Bucher, civil engineer, 40, living with wife Marian, 36; son Harold Jr., 7; son William, 5; and daughter Marian S., 6 months old. Everyone was born in Pennsylvania except Marian in New Jersey. Her parents and Harold's parents were born in Pennsylvania.

3. Census in 1940 in Mount Lebanon, Allegheny, PA. ² The 1940 Census recorded Harold F. Bucher, 50, living with wife Marion M., 46; Harold F., 17; William M., 15; Marion S., 10; and father-in-law William M. Muir, 76.

4. He was educated at Franklin & Marshall Academy, Lancaster, PA on 5 Jun 1943 in Lancaster, Lancaster, PA. ⁸

5. He was described as WWII Draft Card: 5'11" 164 lbs blue eyes brown hair light complexion, scar on left leg on 5 Jun 1943 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, PA. ⁸

6. Residence: 134 Marlin Drive West, Mount Lebanon, PA on 5 Jun 1943 in Mount Lebanon, Allegheny, PA. ⁸

7. Newspaper: Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, 14 Jan 1952, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, PA. ⁵ Harth-Bucher
From Riverdale, N. Y. comes announcement by Mrs. Marie Harth of the engagement of her daughter, Claire Marie Harth, to William Muir Bucher, son Bucher, of Col. and Mrs. Harold F. of Mt. Lebanon. Miss Harth was graduated in June from Bucknell University where she was a member of Mortar Board and editor of the year book, "L'Agenda." Mr. Bucher, an alumnus of Franklin and Marshall Academy, was also graduated from Bucknell and did graduate work at the University of Pittsburgh. At present he is attending the School of Hospital Administration of the Medical College of Virginia. He served with the of U. S. Armed Forces in Europe.

8. Obituary: The Daily Item on 18 Apr 1978 in Sunbury, Northumberland, PA. ⁴ William M. Bucher
LEWISBURG - A service for William Muir Bucher, 53, a 1950 graduate of Bucknell University, who died of a heart attack April 1, was held April 4 in Washington, D. C. according to word received here. A native of Pittsburgh, Mr. Bucher was known in Lewisburg where his mother, the late Mrs. Harold F. Bucher, lived. She who moved to Lewisburg community after the death of her husband in 1954. At the time of Mr. Bucher's death he was executive vice president and director of the Hospital Council of the National Capital area. During World War II he was commended with the Purple Heart with cluster for operating a prison camp hospital inside Germany, while a prisoner of war. Mr. Bucher is survived by his wife, Claire H., Pebble Brook Lane, Potomac, Md., a 1951 Bucknell graduate; three children: William Jr. and Anne, both in college, and Patricia, at home, and one sister, Mrs. Marion B. Snyder of Annapolis, Md.

9. Residence: Pebble Brook Lane, Potomac, Maryland on 1 Apr 1979 in Potomac, Montgomery, MD, United States. ⁴

William married Claire Marie Harth on 12 Jul 1952. (Claire Marie Harth was born on 26 May 1929 in Bronx, Bronx, NY ⁹ and died on 13 Mar 2022 in Silver Spring, Montgomery, MD ⁹.)