William Leon BUTLER
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: Jan 15, 1918 - Biltmore Estates, Buncombe Co, N.C.
Christening:
Death: Jan 22, 1994 - Arden, Buncombe Co, N.C.
Burial: in Green Hill Cemetery, Buncombe County NC
Cause of Death:
Events
1. OBITUARY, William L. Butler, 76 in Arden, Buncombe Co, N.C.
William Leon Butler, 76, of 114 White Oak Extension, died Saturday January 22, 1994
at his home.
He was a native and resident for most of his life in Buncombe County. He retired in 1978
after 30 years service as a boilermaker with Local Union NO. 30 in Greensboro, NC
He was a member of the Fletcher Methodist Church and 1934 Graduate of Biltmore High School. He was a member and past master of Biltmore Masonic Lodge No. 446. He was a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge since 1943 and a member of the Sudan Shriner's
Temple in New Bern. He was a member of the Eastern Star Biltmore Chapter No. 38
and a master wood crafter. He was the son of Doc Preston Butler and Mary Jane Orr Butler.
Survivors include his wife Aleane Newman Butler of the home; two daughters Janet Butler-Stephens of Raleigh and Karen Butler Sitton of Asheville; and two grandsons.
Funeral Services will be held 2pm Monday in the chapel of Anders-Rice Funeral Home, with the Rev. John Mason and Rev. Michael Swofford officiating. Burial will be in Green Hill Cemetery Asheville, with Masonic grave side rites conducted by the Biltmore Masonic Lodge No. 446. The lodge will open at 1pm. The family will receive
friends from 7 to 8:30 PM Sunday at the funeral home. At other times they will be at the residence.
Memorials may be made to the Masonic and Eastern Star, Greensboro, NC 27420
* Janet Butler - Stephens (daughter)
My father worked with his hands most of this life. He worked at Tandy Gulf station in
Biltmore, NC. he was a master mechanic at Parkland Chevrolet in Asheville, NC. These
jobs were after he had worked as a welder in the shipyard during World War II.
He was a boilermaker most of the time I was living at home. This profession was part of
building the electrical power plants that were built up and down the eastern seaboard between 1950 and 1978. He made a choice when he began this work to take his family with him and not be a weekend dad.
He and my mother sold their home and bought a 35 foot 8 foot wide trailer. the first place we moved to was not that far away in Candler to a trailer park called "The rock Ola". Our next move was to Kentucky to a very small town. We parked the trailer in the backyard of a woman whose name was "Miss Julie".
There was a railroad that still had coal power steam engines running on the tracks. I can still remember the smell and sound of that train.
He was a thirty-second degree Mason. He was a very private man but very proud of this organization which he supported all his life. Where ever we moved too there was always a lodge that he could attend meetings and feel welcome.
There were many more places - we moved 16 times during my 12 years of school.
My memories of my father are many but they are ones that make me smile, because truly my dad could fix anything. His imagination was wonderful and he could make something wonderful out of very little. Growing up, I remember him making a "soda"
cannon out of a tin can for the 4th of July and entertaining all the children and having us chase the soft ball that the cannon shot out.
He made a Christmas tree out of floral foam that looked like a spiral stair case. He tried to expllain to his brother J.P. how to make it and finally just made a smaller version and mailed it to him. I still have my 6 foot version of the tree. It packs down flat in a box under the bed, great for limited space.
He was a quiet man and read all the time. He loved Zane Gray and science fiction.
After he retired they moved into a trailer that was set up on a piece of land my mother had inherited in Henderson County, NC. They lived there for several years and raised a
large garden. The vegetables that came out of that garden were numerous and some of them very large. There is a photo of Dad with a wheelbarrow full of rie tomatoes.
After he retired, he and mother built a home in 1964 and they moved into it. It had a
wood working shop in the basement where he made many wonderful things for all the
family. If he saw an item or you could draw a picture, he could make it.
We all have clocks, tables, cedar chest, wooden puzzles, cup holders, jewelry boxes and
much more that he lovingly made for us.
The night my father passed away my husband and I had gone to Hendersonville to my uncle's (Robert Mason) funeral on Friday and then went out to eat with dad and mom.
We all sat around and talked until about 10pm. I kissed my Dad good night and went to
bed. Around 1am my mom came upstairs and said,"I think Bill is not breathing."
The remainder of the night is a blur. We called the extended family early in the morning to let them know so they could make arrangements to stay for another funeral.
They say as long as a person is remembered they still "live" on. I know this to be trrue
of my Daddy.
Parents
Father: Doc Preston BUTLER (1870-1942)
Mother: Mary Jane ORR (1887-1945)
Spouses and Children
1. *Thelma Aleane NEWMAN (May 11, 1918 - Nov 21, 2002)
Marriage: Feb 8, 1941 - Buncombe Co, N.C.
Status:
Children:
1. Janet Kay BUTLER (1946- )
2. Karen Eugenia BUTLER (1954- )