Charlotte Maguire Butterfield, a long-time resident of Coronado, passed away on Saturday, May 25, 2019, aged 92.
She lived a full and interesting life, close to the course of events that shaped her times. As a young woman, she was a source of great strength and steadiness for her three children as the family moved to post-war occupied Germany, the Territory of Hawaii, the Japanese island of Okinawa, a then still emerging nation of Australia, and nearly a dozen states in the U.S. No matter where the family moved, it was home because of her.
Charlotte was a loyal friend, who cemented life-long friendships with wit, intelligence, and a deep sense of humor. When she returned from her travels to her cherished Coronado in the mid-1980’s, she joined a warm and vital circle of friends, who shared golden childhoods on the island, a sense of fun, and a deep appreciation for each other’s spirit and resilience. We can imagine her and her close friends laughing together now in another place. Above all, Charlotte was a devoted mother, a doting grandmother, and a proud great grandmother. She had the great good fortune to choose to define herself as a mother who loved and was loved by her children.
Charlotte Mary Maguire Butterfield was born on November 27th 1926 in Annapolis, Maryland, the daughter of English rose, Florence Carter Maguire, and naval officer and then-instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, Rear Admiral Charles Maguire, both of Boston, Massachusetts. She moved to Coronado for the first time in 1933 and later met her future husband at Coronado Elementary School. She attended high school in Coral Gables, Florida, and at Wilson High and Mount Vernon Seminary in Washington, D.C. She attended college at Mount St. Mary’s in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA, where she was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
She is survived by her children Alexander (Vanessa) Butterfield Jr. of San Diego; Susan Holcomb of Santa Cruz, California; Lisa (John) Buchholz of Providence, Rhode Island; and their father, Alexander Butterfield, of La Jolla, California. She leaves eight grandchildren, Claire (Morgan) Bigley of Somerville, Massachusetts; Tyler (Joe) Nicchi of Los Angeles; Anna (Simon Tetelbaum) Butterfield of Boston; Andrew Holcomb of San Jose, California; Alexander (Tracey) Holcomb of San Francisco; Porter Holcomb of Lake Tahoe, California; Chase Buchholz of Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Ensign Reed Buchholz, USN of Pensacola, Florida. She also left behind six great grandchildren (with four more on the way), Adele and Violet Bigley, Cooper and River Nikki, Ellis Tetelbaum, and Grady Holcomb. All of us will miss her deeply.
Services will be held at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Wednesday, June 5, 2019, from 1:30pm to 2:00pm. (Guests must arrive between 1:00pm and 1:15pm). A reception at 272 I Avenue, Coronado, will follow at 2:30pm. Updates and other information will be posted at www.glenabbeysandiego.com. Donations may be made in Charlotte’s name to Baja Dog Rescue at http://bajadogrescue.org.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.11.3