Lanny Buck graduated from Williams College in 1924. He made the US hockey (field) team for the 1932 and 1936 Olympics but did not play in 1932. After college Buck worked at Wamsuta Mills for three learning the manufacture of cotton yarn. He then moved to Fall River, Massachusetts working in the yarn business. In 1929 Buck moved to the Metropolitan Square Corporation in New York, soon to be known as Rockefeller Center. He was involved for four years in the construction of the three blocks of the Rockefeller Center complex. Buck later went into building management in New York City.