Attorney a crusader for all human rights

He grew up in Charleston, S.C., during the racially tumultuous 1920s and ’30s. During World War II, he was a tail gunner on B-25s and B-26s, flying missions over Germany and Italy under the cover of the Tuskegee Airmen. The black pilots’ bravery shaped Mr. Buckley’s stance on racial equality, said son Edward Buckley, also an attorney.

Ferdinand C. Buckley, 84, of Atlanta died Monday of age-related complications at Medlock Gardens assisted living facility. The funeral will be 10 a.m. Friday at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. H.M. Patterson & Son is in charge of arrangements.

After earning his law degree from the University of Michigan, Mr. Buckley settled in Atlanta in the early 1950s to practice law.

From the start, Mr. Buckley was steadfast in his beliefs, and he wasn’t afraid to take drastic measures if he thought people were being treated unfairly.

In 1970, he resigned from the Atlanta Lawyers Club when it refused to admit two black candidates, Maynard Jackson and William Alexander. He even sent a letter to the club’s executive committee, denouncing the decision to “blackball” these men, Edward Buckley said.

In 1973, he was the guardian ad litem, or court-appointed guardian, for the unborn child in Doe v. Bolton, a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Georgia’s abortion law. That decision was released the same day — Jan. 22 — as the more well-known case of Roe v. Wade.

Edward Buckley, who followed in his father’s footsteps and practices civil rights law, said his father was a good role model to young lawyers. “I often I run into people who have said, ‘I’m a better person for having known him.’ ”

Additional survivors include his wife, Marianne Buckley of Atlanta; three daughters, Kathryn Buckley of Atlanta, Elizabeth Buckley of Tallahassee and Mary Buckley of Denver; and eight grandchildren.