Katya (Blair) Buckner

Ксения Николовенья Метковец was born on October 31, 2005, in St. Petersburg, Russia. In April 2008, at 2 ½ years of age, she was adopted by Jason & Merrielle Buckner of Fort Collins, Colorado and became Katya Elizabeth Buckner. They were joined soon afterwards by a little brother: Pete. Katya has always been adventurous and unafraid. When Katya was about 5 years old, she came upstairs wearing a child’s firefighter costume and hauling a 5-foot long stuffed snake that was often used as a hose during play. "The house is on fire," she reported. As parents, we laughed it off and gave hugs to our imaginative kiddo. Moments later, we smelled smoke. In the kitchen, the toaster oven was belching fumes as a few forgotten taco shells were left warming for a bit too long. Katya saved the day. In Spring 2012, our family moved to Rockingham, North Carolina. Katya loved climbing trees in our wooded lot and looping around the yard on her bike. A Donkey Kong themed birthday party with cars made from bananas and raced down the driveway was a favorite memory. Katya also loved recording videos during this time. Thanks to a simple video camera, we have a trove of short, silly films of Katya and Pete dancing, conspiring and sharing jokes. Katya and our family moved to Orlando, Florida in 2015. Katya was heavily involved in our homeschool co-op, had many friends and was very social. In 9th grade, Katya shared with us that, although she had been raised as a girl, that she (he) actually identified as a boy and would like to begin going by Blair and use the he/him pronouns. It took some adjusting and many conversations to try to understand, but Blair was an amazing advocate for himself. Our family, followed by friends, celebrated the arrival of Blair beginning with our family Christmas card in 2021. Blair attended Lake Nona High School and was a senior there this year. He earned excellent grades and was involved in the Green School Society, National Honor Society and the Thespian Honor Society. He earned a perfect score on the National Latin Exam and competed as part of the lacrosse team and the track/field team (in javelin throw). Blair was incredibly proud of being in the Pharmacy Technician program at Orange Technical College and planned to work as a Pharmacy Tech to help pay for college. From age 6, Blair planned to become a medical doctor and worked steadily towards that path. Two days after his death, he received notification of acceptance into his first choice of colleges: University of Central Florida where he was also invited to apply to the Burnett Honors College. Blair was a complete delight to be around. He laughed easily, was unafraid to be himself, picked the best TV shows to watch and music to enjoy. He cooked great Russian blini and loved cold lo mein for breakfast. He is survived by his parents (Jason & Merrielle), his brother (Pete), a sister (Katarina Doving), as well as two sets of grandparents (Ric & Pat and Duane & Sallie), uncles & aunts (Mark & Miranda, Abram & Mable, Joanna, Jon & Suzanne, Brian & Elissa, and Dan), cousins (Hannah and Luke), fur cousins (Fred, Matilda, and Frankie), and our family dog (Zoie). Blair is incredibly loved and is missed more than he could ever know. -------------------------

Katya (Blair) Buckner

October 31, 2005 - November 8, 2023