Donna Margaret Butterfield

Donna M. Butterfield, of Tallahassee and formerly of St. George Island, died at age 78 on June 17 of cancer. She is survived by her husband of 60 years Gerald A. Butterfield and sons, Mark Butterfield of Portland, Ohio; Jeffrey Butterfield of Parkersburg, WV; and Gregory Butterfield of Hallandale, FL; also, daughter Jennifer Weeks of Tallahassee. Donna is also survived by her nine grandchildren and one great grandchild. She is predeceased by daughter Elizabeth, and parents Capt. John W. Shong, USN, and Margaret Huffines Shong, and brother Lt. Commander John W. Shong Jr., USN.

Donna, daughter of a career U.S. naval aviator, moved extensively during her youth, living most of her elementary school years in Hawaii, and graduated from high school in Monterey, CA. She met her life-long husband to be at Michigan State University and married him in her freshman year in 1966. They moved to Tallahassee in 1970. Donna had a professional career in both the public and private sectors. For the Agency of Health Care Administration, she was an administrator for Medicaid Provider Services, and a management analyst, a medical/healthcare program analyst and state employee benefits analyst. For Department of Management Services, she was a state employees’ insurance analyst. She also worked at the Governor’s Constituency for Children as an analyst.

In the private sector, Donna coordinated the school accreditation program for the Florida Catholic Conference, managed the Florida Insurance News Service, served as executive director of Casa Calderon Apartment Community, and was administrator of Woodmont Retirement Community. After moving to St. George Island, she served as executive director of Franklin County Senior Citizens Council and office manager of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Apalachicola before retiring. She was a faithful volunteer at Eastpoint Library, Apalachicola Chamber of Commerce, and was an elections poll worker on the island.

Donna had years of community service as a board member of United Cerebral Palsy of Florida, Inc. and southeastern district representative for the national United Cerebral Palsy Association, Inc. She was appointed by Gov. Lawton Chiles to the Human Rights Advocacy Committee (dist. 2b) serving as chair for two years. She was appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Advocacy for Persons with Developmental Disabilities by Gov. Reubin Askew and reappointed by Gov. Bob Graham. She was co-founder of the Dick Howser Center for Cerebral Palsy, serving on the board for seven years and president for one year. For many years Donna was active as a damage assessment volunteer for the American Red Cross, traveling to various disaster areas in Florida.

She received the Outstanding Service Award in 1998 and the Davis Productivity Award in 1995 at the Agency for Health Care Administration. In 1990 she received the Team Performance Award at the Department of Administration and was nominated for the Secretary’s Exemplary Performance Award for Sustained Exemplary Performance.

Donna and her husband enjoyed international travel and visited over 35 countries on six continents (missing Australia). Donna skillfully balanced her family, professional and volunteer lives. Nobody felt short-changed. She loved people unconditionally wherever she went. Donna kept her sense of humor to the very end. She died with dignity. She will be missed by family and friends.