Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 16, 1991 TAG: 9104160430
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: ROB EURE POLITICAL WRITER
DATELINE: WISE LENGTH: Medium
Buchanan died about 1 a.m. at a Wise hospital, said Susan Schaar, clerk of the Senate.
Buchanan was a Democrat who chaired the General Laws Committee and was a senior member of the powerful Finance Committee. He was also one of two Southwest Virginia voices on the Privileges and Elections Committee.
Buchanan, who battled cancer for much of the past year, missed nearly all of the 1991 legislative session because of his illness.
Gov. Douglas Wilder called Buchanan "an able statesman. Southwest Virginia, in particular, has lost an eloquent spokesman who passionately argued the cause of people he felt were being too slowly absorbed into the full panoply of the prosperity of Virginia's bounty."
"Dr. Buchanan represented Southwest Virginia with great dignity, skill and effectiveness," Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, said in a statement Monday. "He had a profound compassion for his fellow Virginians. . . . He was the author of the first state statute that provided workmen's compensation for black-lung claims.
"Southwest Virginia has lost a valuable spokesman and an esteemed leader."
Buchanan was born at Darwin in Dickenson County on Jan. 20, 1911. He had a general medical practice in Wise and was elected to the Senate in 1971.
A slow-talking man with a strong, steady handshake, Buchanan would spend hours in the state library poring over the state Constitution and interpretations of it. He became a self-taught constitutional scholar who could stun his Senate colleagues, many of whom are lawyers, with his intricate knowledge of the document.
"He was a man of integrity and one of the most thorough persons I know of in doing his homework," said Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville. "He was the kind of man you would try to model your life after."
Buchanan was a leading force for clean government. He played a central role in revision of the state conflict-of-interest laws in 1987 and was the architect of the state procurement act, passed soon after a highway bid-rigging scandal in the 1970s.
Buchanan was immovable in defending the needs of the coal-mining region he represented. He sponsored the first state law that provided worker's compensation for black-lung disease.
He also helped kill an effort to establish a coal-severance tax on the Senate floor in the mid-1970s. "I can still remember that speech; it was moving," Marye said.
Senate Majority Leader Hunter Andrews called Buchanan "an outstanding member of the Senate, a Virginia gentleman."
Andrews praised Buchanan for his interest in improving education in the state, both at the public and college level. "His contributions to upgrade the libraries of Virginia are a testimony to his dedication," Andrews said.
Buchanan is survived by his wife, Carol.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Sturgill Funeral Home in Wise.
Staff writer Paul Dellinger and The Associated Press contributed information for this story.
by CNB