The park next to Glenorie Memorial Hall is called Wal Buckingham Park. With the passing of Ray Whiteman the Hall Committee thought, given the tireless work he did for the community, it would be fitting to name something in honour of his services. So we first looked at the park. Few of us knew who Wal Buckingham was but after some excellent digging from Councillor Warren Waddell we found out he was as dedicated to this community as Ray Whiteman.
Wal Buckingham served with the Merchant Navy during World War One. He gave a lot of time over a number of decades to the community in Glenorie, including the school, cenotaph and RSL Sub-Branch. He served in the administration of the Glenorie Memorial Hall and was its caretaker for 14 years. He died in 1983 at the age of 84 (which means he was just 15 when the war started).
It was felt that this garden area, in the centre of the community near the site of so much of his work, would be a fitting reminder of his services. The area surrounding the Cenotaph was cleaned up, re-grassed and named Wal Buckingham Memorial Garden. It was officially opened on ANZAC Day 1985 by Hornsby Shire Deputy President G. Provest.
The Advocate wrote about the opening and said, “The subbranch plans to name the new war memorial reserve after Wal Buckingham, the longest surviving WW1 veteran at Glenorie.” The article also mentioned that Buckingham was involved in many organisations, was chairman of the Glenorie Memorial Hall Trust and warden of St Judes Church in Dural.
