Buffington

Robert G. "Red"Buffington, 84, of Evans City died Thursday afternoon at St. Johns Lutheran Senior Center in Mars.

Born Nov. 7, 1921, in Fairmount City, Clarion County, he was the son of Claude M. and Mary Nolf Buffington.

He was a cement mason, retiring from Cement Masons Local 526 in Pittsburgh. He was a Marine in World War II in the Pacific, where he was wounded and was awarded the Purple Heart.

He was a member of American Legion Post 787 in Mars.

He was an avid baseball player and played minor league for the New York Yankees, where he proudly caught for pitcher Whitey Ford. He had played baseball for Mars, Warrendale and other Butler County teams in the 1950s.

He was a member of the Mars Rod and Gun Club, the Evans City Sportsman Club and the Clermont Sportsman Club. He enjoyed the outdoors, hunting and trap shooting. He loved to spend time at his camp in Clermont, Pa.

He was a member of the Harmony Lodge 429 F. and A. M. and had received his 32nd degree, the New Castle Consistory and the Syria Shrine of Pittsburgh. He also served as a Forward Township Constable for more than 30 years.

Surviving are his wife, Ruth P. Lauch Buffington, whom he married Jan. 13, 1945; three daughters and their husbands, Anita and Terry Rice of Toney, Ala., Sue and Clarence Knox of Evans City, and Judy and John Nikosey of Brooklyn, N.Y.; a brother and his wife, Daniel and Dolores Buffington of Tampa, Fla., four sisters and their husbands, Ruth and Clinton Evans of Zelienople, Margaret and Paul Thiebaud of Zelienople, Delores and Walter Lasoto of Cranberry Township, and Abby and Oscar Domhoff of Harmony; five grandchildren, Angie and her husband Frank Dill of Georgia, Christine Rice of Alabama, and Lauren, Michael and Jamie Nikosey of New York; and three great grandchildren, R. Clay, Taylor and Jonathan Dill, all of Georgia.

He was preceded in death by six brothers and sisters, Helen Buffington, Clair Buffington, Gene Buffington, James Buffington, Joanne Roberts and M. Claudine Buffington.

<B>Buffington</B> — Friends of Robert G. "Red"Buffington, who died Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006, will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at <B>A. Carl Kinsey-Ronald N. Volz Funeral Home</B>, 328 W. Main St., Evans City.Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the funeral home with the Rev. Peter deVries, his pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Greenlawn Burial Estates, Mt. Chestnut.Harmony Lodge 429 F. and A. M. will hold services at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.Memorial donations may be made to the Old Union Presbyterian Church Building Fund, 200 Union Church Road, Mars, PA 16046 or to St. Johns Senior Care Center Activities Fund, 500 Wittenberg Place, Mars, PA 16046.Condolences may be made at www.kinsey-volzfuneralhome.com.