Dean Buck, Kevin Brylski, Chris Scarano	Steve Harper, Dean Buck, Chris Scarano

When you get honored for your two passions in life, you must be having a pretty good day, actually an unforgettable week.  CDR(Retired) Maurice Dean Buck was on the flight deck of the USS Midway observing the delivery of an F4U Corsair on November 11, 2009 (Veteran’s Day) and three days later at a banquet for the MRF’s All Military Racquetball Championships where he was honored for his Naval career and his contributions to the sport of racquetball.

Maurice “Dean” Buck was born on Nov. 30, 1923 in Vandalia IL.  He enlisted in the Navy in July of 1941 and was commissioned June 1946.  He became a Naval Aviator Sept. 1949.  During this time he flew numerous aircraft including the SNJ, F6F Hellcat, F8F Bear Cat, F9F Panther, FH1 Phantom, TBM, FJ3 Fury, F3D Skyknight, F4D Sky Ray, and maybe his favorite the F4U Corsair.  He served through three major wars, with numerous deployments to Vietnam, where he served as the only Naval Officer with the Air Force and the Army.  Among many medals he received, the three most memorable were, the Navy Good Conduct, Bronze Star and Air Medal (GS).  He retired on June 30, 1973, with 32 years active duty, “the best 32 years of my life”.

His racquetball accomplishments started in 1978 when he was hired at South Bay Racquetball Center (SBRC, now American Athletic) in National City, CA.  He has been instrumental in many players lives. He re-enlisted Second-Class Petty Officer Chris Scarano during a ceremony on court 1 at SBRC many years ago.  He also helped two well known professional players in racquetball history, Ed Andrews, 2009 Hall of Fame, and Alvaro Beltran, who has been in the top 10 rankings the past few years.  He was the reason for the SBRC becoming the dominant force in racquetball in all of San Diego county.  His daily “doughnut derby” was well known to the many players in line outside the club doors at 5:45am waiting to get on the list of 20 to 30 players that would fill the 8 court facility.  His passion for the game has been unprecedented.  To this day if a plumber, handy man, or grocery clerk comes in contact with Dean Buck, they will be asked if they play racquetball, and if their response is no, he will tell them that they should start and it’s the best sport in the world.  He will tell you, the day his vision got to the point where he couldn’t play anymore was one of the worst days of his life, which was at the young age of 77.  If he could still play today, no matter what your ability, he would tell you before entering the court that he was gonna “KICK YOUR BUTT”.

After 55 years of  employment, Naval (32 yrs) and Racquetball (23 yrs), doing the two things you’re most passionate about in life and then getting honored in front of your peers for it, well that’s a Veteran’s Day Week Dean Buck will never forget!

(Dean had realized after the event that he had not acknowledged his family and friends present at the banquet and wished to do so here, Betty-wife, Lisa-daughter, Curt-son, Hilary-grand daughter, Tim and Thelma Rea-friends, CMC/VFA-137 Chris Scarano-friend and all of the MRF family.)