Janis Butterfield

Janis Kay Butterfield (Jan) of Austin, Texas passed away on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at the age of sixty. Jan was born June 17, 1963, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where she grew up and graduated from Washington High School. Jan studied piano for eleven years and was an accompanist in school musical programs. She attended Iowa State University where she was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in management information systems. She worked as a software developer and software architect for the Attorney General of the State of Texas in Austin for more than thirty years.

Janis was preceded in death by her parents Elizabeth (Betty) and R. Eugene (Gene) Mahany, her stepmother Clarise Tucker Mahany, and her brother Ronald (Ron) Mahany all of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is survived by her husband Grayson (Gray) Butterfield and daughter Laine Butterfield of Austin, Texas, sister Linda Mahany Neilsen of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, brother Richard (Dick) Mahany of Indianapolis, Indiana, and stepsisters Diane Tucker of Birmingham, Alabama and Debbie Tucker of Minneapolis, Minnesota, sisters in law Lauren Butterfield of Houston, Texas and Pam Mahany of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and parents in law Stanley (Stan) and Sheila Butterfield of Austin, Texas.

Jan was a positive, fun-loving person who was devoted to her family and wide circle of friends developing lifelong friendships with high school, university, and professional associates. Jan was actively involved with local school and neighborhood activities and was a founding board member of the National Charity League South Austin Wildflowers chapter. Jan fought a courageous eighteen-year battle with cancer and was proud of the person her daughter had become. One of Jan’s greatest joys was watching Laine dance from the time she was a little girl all the way through high school as a Silver Star on the Bowie High School drill team.

Family and friends are invited to attend a Celebration of Life event for Jan at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home, 6300 W William Cannon Dr. Austin, Texas at 2pm on Saturday January 13, 2024. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Jan’s honor to the Susan G. Komen Foundation (www.komen.org).