Barbara J. Butler

Barbara Jean Brummett Butler was born the middle of three children in small town Raymond Mississippi in the heat of the Summer on July 28, 1935 in the middle of the Great Depression. Her blue-collar family was rich in love, deep faith, grit and character. Loved and reared by an angelic mother and a tough but hard working and loving father, she took the incredible gifts God gave her to better the life of countless thousands of children and others that were fortunate enough to be in her path.

Born with a prodigious vocal talent and ultimately trained classically, she was flown to Memphis to sing for the general assembly of the Southern Baptist Convention when she was 13 years old. She graduated from high school early and turned down a vocal scholarship from LSU so she could attend Mississippi College where she graduated in 3 years so she could marry the love of her life - Bernard Butler - who was graduating from Georgia Tech that same year. They met at the birth of their nephew ( the son of her sister Nona and his brother Paul ). They were married for 62 years until his death in 2018.

She spent her days teaching children from the 4th to the 6th grade in English and Music. She did that in Waycross Georgia, Canton Mississippi, Decatur Georgia, Laurel Mississippi, Waco Texas, Arlington Texas, and the Cobb County Schools Georgia where she retired after 32 years of service. In 1962, in Canton MS, she quit the job she needed after being personally reprimanded by her Superintendent that she was spending too much time with the children of color. In Laurel, she chose to teach in the segregated schools where she could love on and encourage children who at the time had few resources and very little hope for the future. Everywhere she taught, she organized choirs, directed musicals, and used her own tight resources to buy clothes, rent robes for performances and make sure they knew they were loved and cared for. She even created her own individual curriculums in her classrooms so that each child could maximize their potential. She wrote performance contracts based on their specific abilities and their personal “contracts” were updated and had to be signed by her students every six weeks so they were committed to their stated goals. The personal and academic results were extraordinary during those years. To make extra money in the cities she lived, she led church choirs even though women weren’t usually allowed to be up front leading in church services at that time.

After retirement, she worked tirelessly on behalf of children as a child advocate in Bartow County with CASA. In her spare time, she led the out-patient volunteer effort at Cartersville HCA Hospital for ten years where she was voted the Volunteer of the Year. Beyond her vocational achievements she was an amazing mother of two who was always teaching, believing, encouraging, and holding everyone she met to a standard of excellence that was contagious. Outspoken and tough but always committed to loving and connecting with those in her path, she never stopped encouraging others to be their very best self. She continued that calling until the end of her beautiful life. Her legacy of love and faith lives today in lives of her family and the thousands she touched. She will be missed more than you can imagine.

She is survived by her younger brother Robert George Brummett of Raymond MS, a son Bernie Butler and his wife Diane of Franklin TN, a daughter Bonnie Bethune and her husband Ray Bethune of Woodstock GA, two grandchildren, Dr. Josh Butler and his wife Alyssa of Flowood MS who is expecting her first great grandchild in July and Emily Butler of Franklin TN who she loved with her “whole heart”.

A Celebration of Life Service will be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 20th of June, 2023 in the chapel of Owen Funeral Home with Bernie Butler, Jr. officiating. Interment will follow at one-thirty in the afternoon at The Georgia National Cemetery.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from nine-thirty in the morning until the hour of service at Owen Funeral Home.

Please visit www.owenfunerals.com to post tributes and sign the on-line register book.

Owen Funeral Home, 12 Collins Dr., Cartersville, GA 30120 is honored to serve Mrs. Butler's family during this time.