Sheila Buckley

Sheila Buckley, 1941-2025

Born in England and educated at Edinburgh University, Sheila enjoyed a forty-year career in education in eastern Pennsylvania. It began almost by accident. In 1969, visiting her aunt and uncle in Mississippi, she fell in love with a local DJ, Jim Buckley (1944-2015), and came with him to Philadelphia when he entered the antiques business in the city. 

Despite never having earned an education degree, Sheila gradually built a reputation in Eastern Pennsylvania for all matters pedagogical. Along the way she taught and supervised virtually every grade, as well as kindergarten, special education, gifted programs and adult education. As an administrator, starting in the 1990s, she trained teachers in Beaver College (now Arcadia University) and Penn State, supervised them in Centennial School District, and collaborated in many publications. She made the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 1998.

Sheila’s extracurricular interests included the organizing of international student exchanges. Until very recently, she worked summers as an historic Philadelphia guide, in full 18th century costume, for French and Italian tourists, and was an avid tourist herself. An ardent opera fan, she loved to go to the Met in New York and the Bayreuth Wagner festival. She had a green thumb and her seven-foot dahlias won prizes. At St Martin-in-the-Field’s Church, she was a leader and fundraiser in the youth ministry and organized work trips to the Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux Indian Reservation. 

Sheila lost her only son Philip in 2021. She made Cathedral Village her home from 2020 until her passing on February 16, 2025.

Memorial on Saturday March 1, 10:00 a.m., at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church (8000 St Martins Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118). The family warmly welcomes the congregation and those who knew Sheila to the service and a reception following.