Richard Hyatt: Tom Buck returns to serve Columbus

Columbus Council threw a saddle on an old warhorse on Tuesday and his first night on duty brought to mind his last day on the job in the House of Representatives -- a ceremony of rah-rahs, blue blazers and khaki pants.

It was 2004 and Tom Buck was taking his final bows after 38 years of full-contact politics and, as usual, his wardrobe was somewhere between the golf course and a frat house.

He was the senior member of the House. He had served as chairman of four standing committees, key appointments that gave him a seat at the head of the table when legislators ironed out the state budget.

But legislating wasn't fun anymore and being a Democrat was as pleasant as a case of the shingles.

If he had turned his back on the boys in the band, Buck could have switched parties and coasted to a 20th term. But that wasn't the way his daddy raised him and that wasn't how his political mentors taught him to behave.

So a few weeks before the session ended, we sat down in his law office on Wynnton Road and he shared his plans to retire. Following tradition, his retirement would have been grounds for speeches and tall tales, but his departure was different than any other.

He was escorted to the podium like a head of state with House members in saddle oxfords and blazers lining the center aisle. It was a gesture of respect and affection.

Even two female members dressed like Buck.

"I raided my husband's closet for the blazer and got my son's shoes," Rep. Debbie Buckner said.

Buck was always an unlikely public servant. One of his friends from Columbus High said he could have stayed home, practiced some law and played some golf. Instead he chose to get his hands dirty.

Ten years after leaving the House, he has made a similar decision. When his neighbor, Red McDaniel, died, Buck let it be known that he would fill out the last 16 months of the veteran councilor's unexpired term and then go back home again.

For him, this isn't a lark. On Monday, he asked friends from the sheriff's department to give him a backstage tour of council chambers at the City Services Center so he would be ready to get to work once he took the oath of office.

Working and serving are old habits. His late father used to go to work early and then come back home to eat breakfast with his family.

"He said this community had been good to our family and that we ought to give back to it whenever we could," Buck said.

So there Tom Buck was on Tuesday, lacing up his saddle oxfords one more time.

This story was originally published December 2, 2014 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Tom Buck returns to serve Columbus."