Edward was my first cousin.  He was much older than me and I saw him only a few times during my life, but I loved him because I knew him through my mother, his aunt, who was born only 9 1/2 years prior to him.

He was a special person.  I spoke to him on the phone last year when he called to tell me he could no longer address Christmas cards.  Not knowing he was gone, I sent him a card this year with a note that I knew he couldn't send cards but I would still send them to him.

He will be sadly missed.  May God bless his immediate family.

Congratulations to Brother Butcher on a life well lived and his new heavenly home. We were blessed by his humor, love, interest, insights and friendship. We have many memories to cherish! 

Together, Ed and Jo Ann have been cheerleaders for me in both my happiest and most trying  seasons of life—relationship heart breaks, high school and college graduations, wedding celebration, losing my mom, becoming a mother, career ups and downs, learning to parent and more. I love them both very much!

When I was in high school, Ed and Jo Ann invited me to attend the Renaissance Festival with them. We had a grand time that day! Then we enjoyed fancy meal that was beyond delicious at Chalet Suzanne in Lake Wales, FL.  I floated home that day after such a fun day with them.

In 2008, Ed and Jo Ann drove to Texas in their new BMW convertible. When they pulled up to our house, Grant and I were outside to meet them. Ed had a leather cap on and they both had smiles a mile wide! I was blown away and so happy to see them. 

Grant was about 18 months and he loved exploring inside his first sports car (see photo). That day, my husband was away hunting with a friend. During their brief stay, several times Ed would shake his head “Scott is off hunting.” Later, Ed followed up to hear if we were really eating the meat. 

Talking with Ed meant smiles. He had a way of bringing smiles to my face in each conversation. I will miss him until we meet again!

I am truly blessed having had Edward Butcher raise me as his only daughter....you will be sorely missed.

Brother Butcher was witty and kind.  He always made me feel at ease and always made me laugh.  He and Sister Butcher are like adopted grandparents to me and have loved me and my family for many years.  I think of Brother B each time I use the casserole carrier he made for me (and each of my siblings) to replicate one my mother used.  I remember eating the world’s best grilled cheese sandwiches in the Butcher home when I returned to Tampa for a high school reunion .  Brother and Sister B were a great team.  They are an exemplary couple with big hearts.  Brother B was a gem.  I am so grateful for the Christ-like love he showed to me and my family.  I am better for having know him.  I look forward to being in Texas soon and continuing to enjoy time with Sister B.  We love you!!!

Thank you Brother Butcher for sharing in our family life for 24 years.  You supported our children in their activities (sports activities and science projects, even our daughter's wedding) as well as sharing advice and life experiences. You were an example of hard work, taking care of your family, and still finding time to play and enjoy life.  Mark's workshop is set up in your honor, as well as planting a garden this week to remember your tomatoes, okra, peppers, and other seasonal specialties. You always made me feel like a great cook by eating whatever I made and expressing just how delicious it was. You will be greatly missed, but the memory of the time we spent with you, your words of wisdom, and gifts (such as the board with all of the holes and pegs for transporting hot foods) will live on forever.  We love you Brother Butcher.  Until we meet again.....

I remember meeting Brother Butcher in the early 1990s after I returned home to Tampa from my mission.  He and Sister Butcher are dear friends of my parents and our whole family.  I have enjoyed spending time with both of them in their home in Tampa and in my parents' home over the last 30 years and, most recently, in my house in Austin two summers ago (photo attached).  It has been too long since we hosted them, which I regret.  

I always treasured the dose of reality and candor that Brother Butcher brought to our time together.  What a sweet, honest man.  Some of my favorite memories of him revolve around sports.  I remember golfing with him for the first time in 1996 at Christmas, when he led several of our family around the University of South Florida golf course on the day of my sister Joy's wedding reception.  I've never golfed with anyone who made me more relaxed and happy to just be there and enjoy the day.  

We played together again, just the two of us, in the summer of 1998 in Temple Terrace, on the day of my sister Margaret's wedding reception.  It would be the last round I'd play for 20 years, because my first childhad just been born.  That day, I remember being grateful to spend a few hours with Brother Butcher, who was an encouraging and enthusiastic golfing partner--he knew the course like the back of his hand, and he didn't care that I am a terrible golfer--he was enjoying the round and I think both of us were enjoying our time together.  Later that year, I remember our family spending the evening in the Butchers' home while we watched Gordon Hinckley's interview on the Larry King show on CNN--not a sports memory at all, but then they broke into the show to cover Mark McGwire hitting his 62nd homerun of the season to best Roger Maris' all-time record of 61.  Both media events were memorable and spectacular.  I was proud that my baby son Max was there with us to see history being made.  That evening, Bro. and Sis. Butcher gave us a ceramic piggy bank, painted blue and decorated with the Texas flag, that Bro. Butcher had made for Max.  We still have that pig and treasure it.    

In 2016, Bro. and Sis. Butcher joined my Dad and his living children for some bowling during our celebration of Dad's 80th birthday.  I didn't even know the Butchers were accomplished bowlers!  They were real hustlers, and we had a great morning aiming at the pins--and watching Bro. Butcher and Sis. Butcher knock down way more than the rest of us, frame after frame.  As always, they were so fun to be with, and I loved watching them work together.  I also appreciated some technical pointers from Brother Butcher, just like when we had golfed together 20 years earlier.  

I remember being humbled and happy to see the Butchers at my parents' 40th anniversary luncheon in 2005.  My Mom would not survive that year, and we all knew it that day.  It was comforting to have the Butchers with us that day, as always.  Over the years they became dear friends and then members of our family.  Such humble, sweet people who have shared honestly and fully with me.  I will miss Ed until I see him again.  My heart aches that I cannot attend his funeral in person today, but I look forward to being there by video.  I would love to see Sister Butcher soon when the health situation in our world permits it.  I love them both.  Our whole family does.  I thank them both for 30 years of memories and love.

From my view, Ed's life was very well lived. He and his treasured wife Jo Ann are true friends to my family. I've always admired their zest for life and the creative ways they spent time together from square dancing, to bowling, to driving around in their BMW ;). I remember many times sitting and talking for hours on their couch, delicious dinners together at their house (and ours) in Tampa, watering his plants in the backyard garden together, and his woodworking skills - especially the hot plate carrier he made for us. We will miss Brother Butcher until we get to see him again. Elder Maxwell reminds us: "Though otherwise a “lively” attribute, hope stands quietly with us at funerals. Our tears are just as wet, but not because of despair. Rather, they are tears of heightened appreciation evoked by poignant separation. Those tears of separation change, ere long, becoming tears of glorious anticipation."

I knew that Ed had a great love for my father so after my father passed I asked him to say a few words because I knew dad shared stories with Ed he never shared with me.  When Ed took the podium at my father's funeral I heard about a life I never knew my father had.  Ed told stories about my father as a young man flying in an open-cockpit airplane and fishing trips that ended in humorous disasters.  By the time Ed left the podium, myself and those around me were laughing so hard tears were streaming down our faces.  That's why I will always cherish Ed because he brought laughter to a very difficult situation.  There are so many Ed and JoAnn stories and how they wrapped their loving arms around my family, especially my boys, and luckily we became part of their family, that is a blessing I will always treasure.

OBITUARY

Edward Ray Butcher

April 18, 1934 – March 30, 2020

Weed Corley Fish Funeral Homes and Cremation Services

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