Matthew Carl Butta

Matthew Carl Butta, 86, died suddenly on June 8, 2019 at San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital, Banning, CA. Born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 24, 1933 to parents Matthew Caspar Butta and Mary (Mayme) Catharine Spohr Butta, he spent his early life in Maryland. He attended Mount St. Joseph’s High School, graduating in 1951 as “top musician” in the school’s band. An avid trumpeter, he played with Gene Bonner’s Zim Zemarel orchestra for a number of years and was a very proud member of the Baltimore Colts marching band. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Loyola College in 1955 and, after service in the U.S. Army, attended UCLA Law School where he was on the law review, obtained his Juris Doctor degree, and was admitted to the bar in 1963.

Mr. Butta’s legal career was in Los Angeles as Corporate Counsel for Buckeye Real Estate until his retirement. He traveled extensively after that, both domestically and internationally, and lived twice in New York City, returning to Southern California after both of those periods. He moved to Four Seasons at Beaumont in 2011 and, after an interlude of living in Burbank, returned after two years.

He is survived by his only sibling, Mary Jeanne Butta Eichelman of Baltimore, and two nieces and a nephew: Martin Matthew Eichelman of Queen Anne, MD; Nancy Eichelman Handy of Oakton, VA; and Leslie Eichelman Baumgardner of Ellicott City, MD. Memorial services will be in Baltimore.