By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Dr. Amanda Anna Beyer-Buckles earned a medical degree and practiced medicine before she learned to drive a car.

A native of Berlin, Germany, Dr. Beyer-Buckles was a dermatologist in Cincinnati who participated in research on the use of lasers for treatment of skin conditions in the late 1950s.

She became a U.S. citizen and learned to drive in 1966.

Dr. Beyer-Buckles died at Jewish Hospital Saturdayof complications of a series of strokes that began 20 years ago. She was 81.

Born in Berlin in 1922, she studied at Humbolt University and the Free University of Berlin, which had been established by Americans after World War II. Fluent in German, English and French, she also worked as a clerk for the U.S. Army.

She graduated in 1947 and came to Cincinnati in 1954 with a group of doctors to continue her studies at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She graduated with honors in 1957 - the same year she met and married John Q. Buckles.

Dr. Beyer-Buckles went on to research lasers with Dr. Leon Goldman, a pioneer in laser use.

She gave birth to her only son in 1961 and worked as a dermatologist in Cincinnati through the 1970s.

She was also an instructor in the UC College of Medicine's dermatology department and worked with Cincinnati Public Schools to immunize children.

Dr. Beyer-Buckles' husband died in 1992.

Survivors include her son, John F. Buckles of Madeira; a sister, Eva Gast of Frankfurt, Germany; and three grandchildren.

Visitation is 4-6 p.m. Sunday at the Gilligan Funeral Home in Kenwood. A graveside service is 2 p.m. Monday at Spring Grove Cemetery.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com