Former Republican Lt. Gov. T. Garry Buckley has died at the age 89.
Buckley’s family says he died peacefully on Wednesday in Stowe, where he lived with his wife.
Buckley became lieutenant governor in 1977 despite losing the general election. No candidate received a majority in the 1976 race for lieutenant governor, so the state Legislature had the power to pick. It chose Buckley over Democrat John Alden in a 90-87 vote.
Buckley served until 1979.
Son David Buckley says he will remember his father as a "very strong man" who was "a role model for everyone."
He says his father worked for years as a well-respected real estate broker and not a day goes by that someone doesn’t say to him, "Your dad helped me buy my first house."