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DENVER (AP) — Democratic Aurora state Rep. John Buckner, who worked as an educator for decades, has died after battling a respiratory illness. He was 67.
Buckner died Thursday from sarcoidosis (sahr-coy-DOE'-sis), which causes inflammation of the body's tissues, the House Democrat's press office said.
Buckner dealt with the illness during the past legislative session and missed the last week of the term, which concluded May 6. In the letter he sent to colleagues informing them of his absence, he vowed to return.
"Don't think for a moment that you've run me off!" he said.
Buckner was elected in 2012. He was the chair of the House Education Committee and a sponsor of a bill this year to reduce the number of statewide standardized tests, which was cited by both parties as one of the major accomplishments of the session.
Before his career as legislator, Buckner worked in the Cherry Creek School District, starting as an assistant principal at Laredo Middle School in 1975. In 1988, he became principal at Aurora's Overland High School, where the gym now bears his name.
In 2013, when fellow lawmakers unsuccessfully considered abolishing the death penalty, Buckner told The Associated Press in an interview that he opposed capital punishment and that he worried it disproportionately affects minorities.
The three men now sitting on Colorado's death row — Nathan Dunlap, Robert Ray and Sir Mario Owens — are black and were Overland students at different times while Buckner was principal.
"I think it will be complicated for me when I have to face the fact that this is Nathan the person," Buckner told AP in 2013, when an execution date for Dunlap loomed.
Dunlap was ultimately granted an indefinite stay of execution by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
Buckner and his wife, Janet, have three children and three grandchildren, according to his website.
Funeral services have not been scheduled.
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