It is wrong that Greg cannot author this obituary, as his wordcraft reflected the elegance of his unusual mind, and because he loved to tell a good story about himself. Surely it would have been colorful, as his personality was constructed on a grand scale: he was intense, obsessive, and passionate–an epic unto himself.

Gregory Ronald Buck was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 21st, 1957 to Ronald Buck and Rose Freitas Buck. He was the loving and devoted older brother of eight siblings: Christopher, Cynthia, Stephen, Janine, Jacquelyn, Benjamin, Bernadette, and Alexander. Together with his parents and siblings, he lived in Pennsylvania and Maryland before moving at the age of eleven to Newton; he spent his adult life in Massachusetts.

Greg was an autodidact who skipped the conventional step of a bachelor’s degree, but ultimately earned his PhD in mathematics from Boston University. He taught mathematics at Tufts University for 3 years, and then earned tenure at Saint Anselm College, where he taught for 33 years. He made field-altering contributions to celestial mechanics and to knot theory.

In 1986 Gregory married Sarah Buck, with whom he had his children Mary Charlotte and Eric. They lived and raised their children in Andover, MA. He later moved to Boston, and spent time exploring the city with MC and Eric, and playing soccer, cooking, and enjoying his kids’ teen years.

He married Phyllis Thompson in 2010. They lived with their children, Emmett and Anina, in Brookline and later Newton, MA. His second chapter of parenting sparked a new joy in him, and he shared his love for sailing, music, and art with his young children.

Greg had an unswerving confidence in his own taste, judgment, and conclusions. When he loved a thing, he loved it completely. He didn’t like a song; he had songs he knew to be perfect, and he kept them on repeat. A good song, he once wrote, deserved to be played at maximum volume while “barreling down the highway in a Cadillac with cowhide seats.” It would be a shame though if he didn’t share such an experience with the people he loved with equal conviction. He was the party: give him music–the man could dance.

He described himself as “interested in just about everything.” (It also can safely be said that he had a strong opinion about everything.) He said often that he found all problems equivalently hard to solve. He untangled knots at all scales, and the laser focus of his attention was the same whether the issue on the table was selecting a soccer camp, choosing his fall line on a ski slope, building a desk, or devising a mathematical intervention. His convictions and devotions were unswerving. He never gave up: he often said “it ain’t over yet” to those experiencing frustration or despair. He believed in trying to achieve the impossible.

But it would be obvious to anyone who knew him that he would conclude any account of his life with this fact: his love for each of his four children was fierce, incandescent, and constant. He loved them in their differences and particularities, though all four had in common that they were the most brilliant and astonishing creature ever to walk this earth.

He is irreplaceable.

Gregory leaves behind his four loving children, Mary Charlotte (Buck) Hicks (and husband Robert Hicks III), Eric Gregory Buck (and wife Aileen Buck), Emmett William Buck-Thompson, and Anina Rose Buck-Thompson, eight siblings, many nieces and nephews, and lifelong friends who adored him.

A funeral service will be held at St. Anselm College on Monday, April 21st at 10 am. Reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a donation in his name to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, one of Greg’s favorite places on earth.