Paul Edward Butler

PAUL E. BUTLER Funeral services for lifelong Dolores resident, Paul E. Butler will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 11 at the Ertel Memorial Chapel. Interment will follow at the Summit Ridge Cemetery. Pastor Walter Olsen will be officiating. Paul was born on November 30, 1918 in Durango to William Lester and Mary Magdalene (Jenkins) Butler. He passed away on Saturday, October 2, 2004 at the Valley Inn Nursing Home in Mancos at the age of 85. Paul grew up on Granath Mesa, north of Dolores, where he attended school for eight years in the one room school there. He then attended Dolores High School. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Dolores for nearly eighty years. He loved baseball and always wished he could have had a chance to play on a team. In the late 1930's he helped Troy King drive cattle from Beaver to Farmington. In 1941 Paul joined the Army. He was due to be discharged when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Paul was quickly involved in World War II. After training in Okla., Tex., La., and N.Y., he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the Susan B. Anthony with the 45th Thunderbird Division. He took part in beachhead landings in Sicily, Anzio Beachhead in Italy, and in France. He was involved in liberating the Dachau Death Camp near the end of the war. For his exemplary service he was awarded the Bronze Star. Upon his return to the states, Paul bought the family farm on Granath Mesa where he lived the remainder of his life. In 1946 he married Marge Jacobson. Together they had four children. Their thrid son, Larry, died at the age of five. He served a term on the Dolores School Board when the children were young as their education was very important to him. He insisted that each one attend college and encouraged them to be and do whatever they wanted. he was extremely proud of all three children. Along with farming, Paul was an excellent fence builder and also cut and sold firewood. He was a perfectionist in whatever he did. Paul was a concerned citizen and a passionate advocate of causes he believed in. He was patriotic and proudly displyed the American flag. The Ponderosa Restaurant in Dolores became his 'office' where he had many friends and spent hours drinking coffee and solving the world's problems. He and J.D. Rose had a yearly bet as to when winter would end. He was known for his outspoken, blunt personality. One always knew where he stood on any subject, yet he had a sense of humor and soft heart. Paul loved walking and hiked down and out of the Grand Canyon over 50 times. He especially enjoyed the hike when he was 60, his son Tom 30, and granson Eric 6 years old. He subsequently hiked with his other son Ed and grandchildren Jon and Laura. Everyday Paul walked teh forests, fields, and roads near his home. Paul climbed many of the mountains in Southwest Colorado with Tom, Ed, and Rev. Dave Engle of the Methodist Church. He enjoyed hunting in his younger years. He and Marge loved traveling to visit their grandchildren. Granddaughter, Laura remembers how her grandad got up early Saturday mornings to buy doughnuts for breakfast. On mountain hikes he dropped nickels along the trail for the grandkids to find. Grandson Eric remembers him as a fun and cheerful grandad who liked to goof around. Jon remembers sipping hot cocoa with im at the Ponderosa. Little Luke called him Grandaddy Longlegs and liked to drive the old yellow pickup with him. In later years Pual quit farming but kept his pastures clean by hoeing out rabbit brush and thistles with a grubbing hoe. After Marge died in 1993 Paul and daughter Kathie continued to share the family farm, working together. Paul spent many hours reading and listening to the Christian radio station. In December 2002 he became a resident of the valley Inn Nursing Home in mancos, where he made many friends sporting his bright red hat. Surviving Paul were his children, Ed Butler and wife Joyce of the Philippines, Tom Butler and wife, Lucy of Dolores and South Carolina, and Kathie of Dolores; his grandchildren, Eric Butler and wife, Elizabeth of Denver, Jon Butler and wife, Holly of Summit Ridge, Laura Jenkins and husband, Fred of Albuquerque, N.M., and Luke Butler of the Philippines; three great-granddaughters, Elise, Tessa, and Lauren; his siblings, Maurice Butler, John Butler, Ruth Dennison, Hannah Blackburn, and Sarah Barner; as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends. Preceding him in death were his parents; his wife, Marge; son, Larry; and his siblings, Norman, Harry, David “Bud”, and W.T. “Dopey”, Lois Greenlee, and Jane Novack. Memorial contributions can be made in Paul’s memory to the children’s section of the Dolores Public Library at 1002 Railroad Avenue.