Pauline Rita Butera

As a child she contracted rheumatic fever and wasn’t able to participate in anything strenuous well into adulthood. When she was six years old her sister had a serious illness and her recovery required Pauline to go and live with her maternal grandmother for the next year, which made a very close bond between the two.

Pauline met Vincent Butera, the love of her life, and married him in February of 1952. They lived in Rhode Island for a few more years where JoAnn was born, then moved to Florida where Karen was born.

She didn’t have a career until her younger daughter was in junior high school, after which she went to work for the Florida school district for the next 24 years.

Pauline was very lucky to have had a sister, daughter and granddaughter in the Air Force, which allowed her to travel to Spain, Germany, Alaska, and all over Europe. She loved taking cruises and went to Tahiti with one daughter and to Hawaii with both daughters.

When Pauline and her husband Vinnie retired, they traveled all over the United States in their van.

Pauline and Vinnie then moved to Arizona to help her sister take care of their mother who had Alzheimer’s. After their mother was placed in a memory-care home, they moved to Surprise where Pauline and Vinnie made many friends. Later they traveled with family and friends all around the Southwest. Vinnie ended up in hospice at home, where Pauline took care of him for the next four years.

Bingo was Pauline’s salvation. After Vinnie passed away, she met Jane and many good friends at Bingo. Til the very end of her life she enjoyed bingo three times a week, lunch with family and friends and all the holidays with her family.

Pauline was blessed with six grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. She was always the heart of every family gathering. As the matriarch of her family and a cherished friend to many, her love, strength and guidance touched countless lives and she will never be replaced.