Innerviews: This Buckalew Made Name For Himself In The Ministry

By Sandy Wells Buckalew. The name rings a loud and distinctive bell. His father, Marshall Buckalew, was president of Morris Harvey College. His brother, Jim, was a teacher and nationally known crew coach there. Uncle Jack was superintendent of the West Virginia State Police. Ron Buckalew earned recognition in his own right when he carried the familiar family name into the ministry and later into poetry and writing. He grew up on the grounds of Morris Harvey, now the University of Charleston, careful always to downplay his identity as the president's son. He graduated from Charleston High in 1964 and flirted with pre-med and secondary education careers in college. Then, in the Navy, he had a haunting dream about a beckoning Jesus.