B-to-B Catalog Vet Don Buck Dies Suddenly

Don Buck, a B-to-B catalog executive at C&H Distributors, died on Dec. 12 from an apparent heart attack after finishing a game of racquetball. He was 56.

Just last Wednesday evening, Don and several employees from the C&H and National Business Furniture catalogs were at a C&H executive dinner, in part to celebrate Don’s new position at C&H, according to National Business Furniture President Kent Anderson.

An Air Force veteran, Don started his direct marketing career at Western Publishing Co. in 1982. He moved to Moore Business Products (1989-1993), then National Business Furniture (1993-2000), after which he opened Buck Marketing Ltd. as an independent list brokerage and consulting firm for the B-to-B catalog community. He closed Buck Marketing after seven years when he was offered a position at C&H in 2007 as director of circulation and database marketing.

Don was an active member, and former president and board member, of the Wisconsin Direct Marketing Association, and a member of the Business Marketing Association. He was very active in his church (where he was Clerk of Session), Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church in Bay View, Wis. He was also active in his community, serving as webmaster for both the Living Waters Contemplative Life Center and the Open Door Free Clinic (health care for the uninsured).

For those who knew him, this is a big loss. Don was a true member of each community he belonged to — business, religious and neighborhood — and he'll be missed in each.

Mark Amtower is the founding partner of Amtower & Co., a B-to-G marketing consulting firm.