Iris Willoughby Buhl

January 23, 1943 - August 11, 2020

Iris W. Buhl, age 77 of Nashville, TN, on August 11, 2020. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She attended Donelson High School and George Peabody College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Master of Arts degree in Special Education. While an undergrad, she participated in the civil rights movement, as well as working with a project studying changes in racial attitudes. After graduation she worked at the Regional Intervention Program training parents of developmentally disabled children. She was the second president of the auxiliary board of the University School of Nashville in the history of the school, and she was a member of the school’s Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1985. In 1987 she began volunteering at Nashville CARES, where she eventually became development director and sat on the board of directors twice. In 2007 she was appointed to the Metro Nashville Human Relations Commission by Mayor Bill Purcell. She was volunteer chair of The Brooks Fund History Project, and she sat on the board of directors of Nashville Public Radio. Among the honors she was given for these and other efforts were the 2007 Ally Award from the Human Rights Campaign, the Community Nashville 2013 Human Relations Award, the Thomas J. Powell Award for Community Service, and a Certificate of Appreciation by Governor Bill Haslem in 2014. Her deep appreciation of British culture and history led her to make many trips to England. Her travels also brought her to France, Italy, Egypt, Russia, and Hungary. She was also a superb cook. She is preceded in death by her husband, Arthur H. “Mike” Buhl III, and is survived by her son, Michael Higgins Buhl, her brother, Stephen Byrne Willoughby, and her nephew, Sean Stephen Willoughby. The family is especially grateful to Christy Lampley and Joley Puckett for their kindness and dedication over the last few months. In the future, the family will host a private celebration of her life, and they request that memorial gifts be made to The Buhl Family Fund of The Community Foundation, Nashville CARES, and The University School of Nashville.