Posted on 12/05/2019
Charles William Butler (1926 - 2019)
Charles Butler died following a short illness on November 30, 2019. He was born on November 18, 1926, in Sparta WI. The family moved to Madison where Charles graduated as valedictorian of his high school class. His favorite sport was sailboat racing, and he won his first major regatta when he was 12 years old. He was awarded a congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1947. The day after his graduation he married Rosemary Mancell of Monmouth IL, an art major from The University of Illinois. The Navy sent Charles to Rensselaer Polytechnic, where he earned his BCE and MCE degrees. As Officer in Charge of Construction he completed many major overseas projects, including a new hospital at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines to support the wounded of the Vietnam War. After retiring from the Navy as Commander in 1967, Charles and Rosemary spent a year touring Spain and Portugal, a region they had grown to love when Charles was stationed on the northwest coast of Spain. They then settled in Coral Gables, where Charles supervised many major construction projects along the South Florida coast while working for a Miami Beach firm. The couple were active supporters of the University of Miami’s art museum, library and theater. They became active members of The Butler Society, headquartered in Kilkenny, Ireland. In 2000 they commissioned a memorial to mark the burial site of the first Chief Butler of Ireland, a 12th century hereditary title which made the Butlers one of the most powerful families in Ireland.
Published in the Miami Herald on Dec. 4, 2019