Don ( Buck ) Ralston Croson

Helen Marie was followed by Colleen Georgiana. "They nailed that name on her and she was quite unhappy with it for quite a while," he recalls. "It's a big name for little baby." 

Louis came next and then Don, who goes by the nickname Buck. All nicknames have a story; here's how Don became Buck: "Aunt Bee was visiting, and she heard me make some sort of noise. She said it sounded like a buck sheep. My little brother heard that and wouldn't let it go. Buck stuck." That little brother was Allen. "I called him Babe," Don says. After the boys there was Barbara, Chloe Anne and Sharon. 

Buck has many pleasant memories of his childhood. "We had few things like toys, but we played a lot. There was a railroad box car in a ditch. When it filled with water, we made that box car into a boat. We ran around a lot; Run Sheep Run was a big game, so was Hide and Seek. Lots of fun!" As for school, "I tolerated it," he says. 

His father Homer was a mail carrier and Buck has vivid memories of his dad sorting the mail into a canvas pouch his mother made. In a rural area, mail carriers had significant civic responsibilities. They delivered mail. picked up what needed to be posted including checks and mail orders, and sold stamps. The mail carriers did all the services and transactions that otherwise would happen at a Post Office. 

Working for the railroad

Buck was unable to join the military after high school due to a problem with his hip, so he went to work.

His first job was as a Service Manager in a store in Mitchell, South Dakota. "I was making $1.10 an hour, not a great deal of money, so like most people I played the game and looked around for a better job." he says. "The railroad offered more money, so I went to the railroad." Buck spent his career with the railroad. He explains. "I was with Racine Southwestern Division. I traveled a lot on the railroad, saw a lot of the country and went to lots of different towns," he says. During a rotation, the dispatcher sent Buck to East Moline. III., and that's where he met Mary.

Building a family 

Buck's Aunt was working at a battery plant in Freeport, Ill. She insisted that her young coworker meet her nephew. At the time Buck was 33 and Mary was 20. They met at the home of Buck's Aunt on New Year's Eve. "He didn't call again until May!" Mary recalls. They became engaged in July and were married in October. They traveled west for a two-week honeymoon.

Buck and Mary went on to have five children: John, Matthew, Elizabeth, Christopher, and Rachel. 

Buck worked for the railroad for 38 years. Then one day in 1985, he came home from work and informed her he was retiring the next day and buying a boat. Mary wasn't too happy about that at first! But she says, "Buck stayed busy in his retirement." 

They live with their two cats in Racine, Wisconsin. They like their neighbors and delight in watching some of the neighbor's children playing outside. Buck says, "We enjoy our family as well as other people and their families and children." The couple now have six grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.

His daughter Elizabeth passed away on Thanksgiving night 2016, at age 50 from MS. She rarely complained about her illness and lived a colorful life. She was diagnosed in 1997 at age 31.

A genuine personableness

Buck enjoys classical music and recalls making CDs of his favorite songs that he downloaded off the internet. He likes to read about history and is currently reading about the American West. An incredibly personable man, Buck says he now "works for his wife." When he's not doing that, or enjoying his family and delighting in his neighborhood, he goes to a day care. Mary thought he wouldn't take to it, but he has. He enjoys the conversation and making personal connections.