Austin College Field Laboratory through Real Estate Gift
Narcadean Buckner’s roots ran deep in Sherman, Texas, but she didn’t always called it home. Narcadean’s been from the small north Texas town to California to Las Vegas, Nevada, and back again; worked at a newspaper, helped run a family business and been one of the earliest and most prolific real estate investors in Sherman; lived through the death of her son Barry from multiple sclerosis and then of her husband of 64 years in 2004. A person can experience a lot in 80-plus years.
Her beginnings in north Texas trace back to 1925 when her father moved there with the railroad. Narcadean graduated high school in 1936, met her late husband, Andy Buckner, in nearby Denison and married in 1940. Not long after Narcadean and Andy married, he joined the service during WWII. Andy’s role as a military pilot sent the Buckners to the West Coast. They spent time in California and then in Las Vegas, NV, where Andy trained aircraft gunners, and Narcadean worked for the local newspaper. “Las Vegas was about the size of Sherman,” Narcadean said. “It was a fun town even then.”
In the mid-1950s, the Buckners decided to take advantage of a low-cost Texas Veteran’s Land loan program and bought 117 acres in Sherman. “We called it the farm, actually all we ever did was raise a garden there,” Narcadean said. “The land is very pretty. It has a couple of creeks down through it and lots of rocks and things sticking out that make it interesting.”
The 117-acre land was one of the first of many real estate investments the Buckners would make in Sherman. For Narcadean, charitable contributions have been more about handing over deeds than signing checks. Her unique, but generous practice of making real estate donations has greatly benefited local hospitals, the library, the county hospice, community college, and Austin College.
After selling their business, Wholesale Automotive, the Buckner’s son, Barry, encouraged them to invest in real estate. “One thing they always say about real estate is there will never be more land,” Narcadean said. Eventually, the Buckners owned and operated over 100 rental properties in the area.
After years of enjoying their own 117-acre private “country club,” the Buckners decided to donate the land to Austin College in 1995. Andy and Dr. Howard McCarley, then head of the Biology Department at Austin College, were friends. The College turned the land into a field laboratory, The Barry Buckner Biological Preserve and Research Area, named after the Buckners’ late son.
Narcadean Buckner said many factors played a role in deciding to donate the land to Austin College. She and her husband were happy the land wouldn’t be turned into a development project, that it would have an educational purpose through the Biology Department, and that they could still maintain a connection to the land where they had created many memories. “We enjoyed the place so much, and we’re glad that Austin College does too,” said Narcadean, who usually got a yearly tour of the preserve and a picnic from George Diggs, professor of biology. “They intend to take me some place nice to eat. I say I’d rather just buy some chicken and go out there. Dr. Diggs makes it very interesting to walk along and see all these things that it has to offer.”
Narcadean’s yearly picnic and tour to see what Austin College’s biology students have done on “the farm” was a highlight trip for her to reconnect to a place where so many memories had been created. Donating this property was far more meaningful to the Buckners and to Austin College than any check they might have written. It has established a lasting, tangible legacy of one of the more prominent real estate families in Sherman; and will benefit current and future generations of Austin College students and faculty for years to come. Mrs. Buckner passed away in December 2008.
For more information about how you can make a difference at Austin College by donating your real estate or oil/gas/mineral rights, please contact us at plannedgiving@austincollege.edu or 903.813.2336.
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