Susan Buckley Adler, an avid gardener, tennis player, animal lover, American Red Cross volunteer, and EMT with the Weston Volunteer Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services, died of cardiac arrest Dec. 19 at Norwalk Hospital.
Mrs. Adler worked for nine years at Norwalk Hospital’s Chemistry Department and later in Westport for Schulhof Animal Hospital and as a volunteer for the American Red Cross blood bank. But it was as an emergency medical technician with the Weston volunteer ambulance that she excelled, and over two decades, she was credited with saving the lives of several area residents while achieving a number of paramedical and safety certifications.
Mrs. Adler was born Dec. 24, 1926 in Bangalore, India, where her father, the late Lt. Col. William Howell Buckley of Wales, held a senior post with the British government. She grew up in South Wales and studied painting and acting at Oxford University and art at Accademia Bella Arte in Florence, Italy. She moved to the United States in 1951, settling in Westport in 1954. She married Dr. Daniel H. Adler in 1964, and they had lived in Weston since 1966.
An athlete in her youth, Mrs. Adler was a dominant tennis player and won amateur tournaments in Westport. She was coached by the legendary Westport tennis pro Doc Marshall.
Mrs. Adler retained her British citizenship and also became an American citizen. She came from aristocratic lineage through her father Col. Buckley, Chairman of Buckley’s Brewery, and her Irish mother, the late Karolie Kathleen Kemmis Buckley. Her late brother, Lt. Col. William Kemmis Buckley, served with the Welsh Guards fighting on two fronts during World War II and was in the Honour Guard, attending the funeral of King George VI. She is survived by a half sister, Sarah MacDonald of Surrey, England, and son William Adler and his wife Olga of Westport. She was predeceased by her husband Dr. Adler and a daughter, Felicity Adler.
Final arrangements will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Susan Adler’s memory to the Weston Volunteer Fire Department.