OBITUARY

Claude Butterfield

December 6, 1930 – May 4, 2013

IN THE CARE OF

Weed Corley Fish Funeral Homes and Cremation Services

Claude Butterfield, 82, of Austin, Texas, passed away May 4, 2013. He was the first of four children born to Marie and Claud Butterfield, Marland, OK. Claude moved to Olney, Texas in 1942 and graduated from Olney High School in 1948. He graduated from Texas Christian University in 1952 with a BBA in accounting. After college he served in the US Army and was a veteran of the Korean War. Claude held various accounting positions in Denver, Midland, Houston, Little Rock, Austin, and Washington, D.C. before transferring back to Austin with the VA Administration in 1970. During the time he was finishing his fiscal officer's training in Oklahoma City, he married Deanne Skrivanek on March 29, 1975. His career as a fiscal officer with the Veteran's Administration took him and Deanne to Atlanta Georgia, then to Memphis Tennessee where they resided in Cordova, Tennessee for 25 years. He retired as Chief of Fiscal Services for the Memphis VA Medical Center in 1995 and he and Deanne returned to Texas in 2003 to enjoy their daylilies and family.

Claude is preceded in death by his parents, his siblings Frank Butterfield of Lubbock, Texas, and Dorothy Williams of Salem, Oregon, and his son, Eddie Butterfield of Austin, Texas. He is survived by his wife, Deanne Butterfield; 5 children, Shanna Butterfield of Bastrop, Texas, Kelly Capps and her husband Jerry of Austin, Texas, and Chris Jones and his wife Heather of Austin, Texas; 4 granddaughters, Lane and Katy Capps and Tatum and Harper Jones; 1 grandson, Hays Jones; his sister, Wilma Ruth Underwood of Yuba City, California; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

The heart of Claude's world in retirement was his and Deanne's love of daylilies and gardening. He was a member of the American Hemerocallis Society, as well as the Memphis, North Mississippi and Austin daylily societies. He was the former treasurer of the Hemerocallis Society for Region 10 (Kentucky and Tennessee). He and Deanne enjoyed growing and photographing daylilies. Each day brought the anticipation of what their labor would yield. They entered numerous daylily shows and traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada to daylily conventions. Claude's enthusiasm and love of these marvelous flowers was returned and memorialized when Bill Reinke, a hybridizer for Region 10, named one of his new cultivars "Butterfield Eight" in honor of Claude and Deanne. In both Memphis and Austin they opened their garden to neighbors and other daylily lovers for numerous garden tours. Claude was also passionate about model trains. He spent years building HO scale model train layouts. As with everything Claude dedicated his talents to, the train layouts that filled garages and rooms throughout the years were intricate and expansive. Claude and Deanne enjoyed hours upon hours working together to get details such as oil wells, gold mines or a ski lift just right.

Claude's church was a pillar in his life. He and Deanne were early members of Covenant United Methodist Church in Cordova, Tennessee when it formed in the late 1970's. Upon moving to The Hills of Lakeway in 2003, Claude and Deanne joined Lake Travis United Methodist Church. Claude was a member of the Better Breather's of Austin, an America Lung Association support organization. He also enjoyed connecting with other retired VA employees through the VA Coffee Club.

The family thanks the caregivers at Stonebridge Health Center, Lakeway Regional Medical Center, St. David's South Austin Medical Center, Home Therapy Austin, Dr. Sean Gilbey, Dr. Brent Bennett and Leslie Lankford of Leave it to Leslie for their compassion and care.

Memorial services at Lake United Methodist Church on Friday, May 10, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. Interment will be at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the following organizations:

Joe W. House Scientific Studies Fund of the American Hemerocallis Society

American Hemerocallis Society

c/o Kathleen Schloeder

2501 St. John Place

Alexandria, VA 22311.

[email protected]

Checks should be made payable to "AHS"

Donations should state "Joe W. House Scientific Studies Fund in honor of Claude Butterfield."

http://www.daylilies.org/Donations_Endowments.html (select "Joe W. House Scientific Studies Fund")

Lake Travis United Methodist Church

1502 RR 620 North