Fort Lauderdale Historical Society mourns the loss of Robert Bruce “Buddy” Lochrie II, founding member of the Society

The Fort Lauderdale Historical Society mourns the loss of Robert Bruce “Buddy” Lochrie, II, community leader and a founding and lifetime member of the Society on February 23, 1962. Buddy died on Friday, August 7, 2009.

Buddy served as a member and chairman of the Performing Arts Center Authority during construction of the Center, and as chairman of the Performing Arts Foundation. A founding member of the Broward Workshop, Buddy was also a Trustee of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, preserver of the Bonnet House and Gardens.

Nearly six years ago, on October 7, 2003, Buddy participated in a panel discussion at the Society’s History Makers Lunchtime Lecture Series on the historic Hotels of Fort Lauderdale. Buddy spoke on the Broward Hotel, an early downtown hotel owned by his grandfather, John, during the 1920s until 1943. He recalled that “all of the Lochries loved to fish, even the women.” But the women did not want the fish mounted in their homes, so they had them displayed in the Hotel Broward’s public spaces.

On November 8, 2003, the Society honored Buddy and Susan at the Society’s 10th Annual Founders Dinner. The Fort Lauderdale City Commission named Buddy 2004 Distinguished Citizen. The Broward County Commission twice designated two different days as Robert B. “Buddy” Lochrie Day, the only person known to this author to be so recognized, for his service to the community. Susan and Buddy were among the first to join as Villagers of the Society. In October 2008, the Broward County Historical Commission honored Buddy as one of the County’s Pioneers.

Buddy will be remembered as a member of a pioneer family who built helped bridge Fort Lauderdale’s past with its future to make Fort Lauderdale a better place. Buddy’s links to the past and his substantial community service over the past seven decades helped transform what was once a small, provincial town barely 22 years old and a population of only 8,666 when Buddy was born, to today’s diverse, international community of more than 180,000 from every part of the world and every walk of life. Today, Fort Lauderdale’s residents make their homes in more than 60 distinct neighborhoods. Today, both residents and visitors alike enjoy a major performing arts center as well as enriching arts, science, and history museums, and a wide array of cultural and recreational activities. With one foot rooted firmly in the past and the other planted firmly in the future, Buddy’s vision, commitment and community service in making Fort Lauderdale a better place in which to live and work will long be remembered.