Floyd L. "Papa Smurf" Buckner

Floyd L. “Papa Smurf” Buckner, age 93, of Mooresboro, passed away Sunday, December 25, 2022 at the Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.

Floyd was born Friday, January 4, 1929 in Rutherford County to the late R.W. Buckner and Frances Mashburn Buckner. He worked as a truck driver for Akers Motor Lines for many years and as a diesel mechanic for Lend Lease. Floyd’s greatest joy and love for the outdoors was expressed as a self-employed heavy equipment operator. Most people in the community referred to him as, “Papa Smurf.”  He was of the Baptist faith and enjoyed camping and was an avid hunter.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by three brothers, Keith, Raleigh and Paul Buckner; two sisters, Margaret Barnes and Allena Marlowe; grandson, Jesse Lee Buckner and a great grandson, Ryan Scott Stafford.

Left to cherish fond memories are his wife of seventy-one years, Nancy Hill Buckner; sons, Gerald Buckner of Dundee, Florida and Wyman Buckner of Mooresboro; daughters, Velma Stafford (Roger) of Mt. Holly, Martha Greene (Larry) of Union Mills and Zelda Murray (Darryl) of Mooresboro; ten grandchildren, twenty-nine great-grandchildren and two great great-grandchildren.

The funeral service will be conducted at 2:00 pm on Thursday, January 5th at the Harrelson Funeral Chapel with Reverend Ted Blankenship officiating. Interment will follow in Hicks Grove Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to service time at the funeral home.

Memorial donations are requested to Hospice of the Carolina Foothills, PO Box 336, Forest City, NC 28043.