By Dan Heneghan
One of Atlantic City’s bright lights was extinguished last week when Buddy Grover, the city’s most famous lighthouse keeper, passed away at the age of 96.
“Our lighthouse shines a little dimmer today because he has left us” wrote Milton Glenn III, the Manager of Operations and Education at the Absecon Lighthouse. Buddy was a keeper there for the last 14 years and was the face of the lighthouse.
Jean Muchanic, Executive Director of the Absecon Lighthouse described Buddy as an “incredible, amazing, witty, and wonderful person.” In her post on Facebook she added “Not enough can ever be said to describe his unique and loving personality. He became friends with everyone he met and was literally loved by all.”
Every Friday, Buddy would don a double-breasted, navy blue wool coat just like the ones lighthouse keepers wore a century ago –with eight brass buttons embossed with the logo of the US Light House Service. The uniform was topped with a navy cap with the lighthouse service logo. He would then climb the 228 steps to the top of New Jersey’s tallest lighthouse and be transformed into a lighthouse keeper who could have been straight out of a Disney film.
At the top, he greeted climbers from all around the world with a smile that glistened like the sun refracting through one of the prisms of the lighthouse’s Fresnel lens. He regaled them with stories of its history, its construction and how it helped save probably thousands of mariners. He often said his secret was to keep telling them more and more “until their eyes start to glaze over.”
Buddy, who was also a board member at the lighthouse, was the subject of multiple magazine and newspaper articles and was featured on television and radio newscasts not only in local media, but also in national and even in foreign media.
In May 2022, Gov. Phil Murphy climbed with him to officially kick off the summer season. After he learned of Buddy’s passing, the governor posted that he was “Saddened to hear of the passing of Buddy Grover, the legendary volunteer keeper at the Atlantic City Lighthouse. We are praying for the Atlantic County community and Buddy’s family.”
Tributes flooded in on social media when word of his passing spread.
“Buddy lived his life well and brought so much joy to everyone he knew and everyone who visited the lighthouse. He told me several times that he was a ghost in training, so I expect to see him around,” wrote Chris Liss, a frequent climber of the lighthouse.
Rich Helfant, the Executive Director of Lucy the Elephant and a close friend of Buddy’s described him as “the beacon who kept the light shining” and added “may his light continue to shine in the hearts of all those he touched.”
George H. “Buddy” Grover III was born in September 1927 in Hamilton Square in Mercer County and attended public schools there. He then attended Rutgers and also the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined the Marines and later the Navy and worked in hotels in North Carolina and in Atlantic City. After working 22 years with the Post Office, Buddy got a job driving seniors in Atlantic City to doctors’ offices and other appointments. He was married for 47 years before his wife passed away in 2008 and the two travelled extensively during that time.
Of course, Buddy was about more than just the lighthouse. A lover of organ music, he volunteered for years at the Historic Organ Restoration Committee restoring the massive organ in the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. With over 33,000 pipes, it is the largest musical instrument in the world and Buddy said his job often involved slipping his slim body – he never weighed more than 150 pounds – into exceedingly tight spaces to reach parts of the organ. He also served on the board and was treasurer of the Southeast Jersey Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Buddy was a member of Chi Psi Fraternity, a Lifetime Member of the General Alumni Association of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the National Association of Letter Carriers. He was active in the Church of the Ascension in Atlantic City and later became active in the Church of the Redeemer in Longport.
His niece, Lynn Lucchini, came to take care of Buddy in his final days. She said she was overwhelmed at the outpouring of love for him.
“I knew he was well-known here in AC and had newspaper articles and TV spots about being a 95-year-old Absecon Lighthouse Keeper… But being here and caring for him over the last weeks has shown me just how known and loved he was for so many other reasons too. It was such a blessing to be able to be here for his last days, and to meet and hear from so many of the people whose lives he touched,” she said.
