BUCHANAN, JR., GEORGE EUGENE

George Eugene Buchanan Jr., of Branford, CT, died gently on Thursday, December 19, 2019, at Branford Hospice, with his beloved wife Jo by his side. Born in 1937, George grew up in Westfield, NJ, son of the late George E. and Sarah Wood Buchanan. He graduated from Yale College in 1959, and Yale’s School of Art and Architecture in 1962. Upon graduation, George and Jo, newly wed, travelled to Rome on a Fulbright Scholarship, and continued their journey through Europe on a Roche Traveling Fellowship. George established his first practice in Branford in 1969, taught design studios at the University of Montreal and Yale School of Architecture, and practiced architecture until his last days. He was an active member of his community, serving as the Chairman of the Branford Downtown Revitalization Committee and on the Stony Creek Architectural Review Board. Music was a lifelong passion; as a singer, George was a member of Yale’s Baker’s Dozen, directed the Stony Creek Singers, and sang with his church choir. He was especially thrilled to sing with the Yale Whiffenpoofs during the last decade of his life. George had a kind heart, a ready laugh, a strong moral compass, and a sincere love of his family and his many friends. He will be deeply missed by his wife of 57 years, Josephine Anas Buchanan, daughters Hilary Buchanan and Katharine Chaston, son-in-law Matthew Chaston, grandchildren Gareth and Rhiannon, and his sister Sarah Buchanan; as well as by the rest of his extended family, including his sister-in-law Catharine Dunn and his nieces and nephews Mark and Lindsay DuBois, and Tim, Linda, and Elizabeth Dell. They will remember him as a loving husband, proud father, grandfather, brother and uncle; gifted sportsman; and man of many instruments, among them voice, viola, guitar, banjo, and piano. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on January 18, at United Church on the Green in New Haven. Memorial donations may be made to the Sierra Club or Doctors Without Borders. For online memorial and guest book, see www.wsclancy.com.