Laurie Eugenia Walker Butler, of Athens, died on Friday, March 9, 2012. She was born in Union Springs, Alabama, on July 24, 1920, the daughter of Laurie Jinks and Thomas Frederick Walker, then of Memphis. After briefly living in Memphis, she moved with her parents to Atlanta, where she grew up.
She attended the University of Georgia, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and was graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor's degree in English. She was married to the late Lt. William Woodthorp Reade, of Athens, who was killed in action over Europe in the Second World War as a bombadier with the Army Eighth Air Force. In 1946, she married UGA Journalism Professor Marion Tyus Butler, who later became the long-time Director of Alumni Relations. Gene and Tyus Butler had been married over 62 years when he died in 2009.
Mrs. Butler ultimately earned a Master of Arts degree in English from UGA, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She taught English Literature and Grammar at Gainesville Junior College and the University of Georgia. During that time, she wrote and edited, as Chief Editor, the college English grammar and usage textbook Correct Writing, published for many years and utilized at colleges across the country.
The name and voice of Gene Butler were also widely recognized in the Athens community, not only through her volunteer service with the Athens Junior Assembly and Northeast Georgia Heart Association, but also from her long-running programs on radio station WGAU, the most popular of which were Christmas and Easter shopping programs and, especially, her Sunday evening show "Strictly Jazz," the name and concept for which were eventually syndicated and broadcast nationally.
Gene was baptized at St. Luke's Church, Memphis, and confirmed in the Episcopal Church at St. Luke's Church, Atlanta. She was a long-time communicant of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens, and later a founding member of St. Stephen's Anglican Church of Athens.
She is survived by her sons, Williams W. Reade, Jr. and wife, Shirlee, of Athens; M. Tyus Butler, Jr. and wife, Suzanne, of Savannah; and Thomas W. Butler of Macon; grandchildren, Laurie Endris, of Minneapolis; Jenny Reid, of St. Louis; Margaret Erwin Butler, of New Orleans; Marion Tyus Butler III and Robert Walker Butler, both of Savannah; great-grandson, Ralph Dillon Maurer, of New Orleans; and niece, Margaret Jackson Reynolds, of Atlanta.
The funeral will be held at St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Timothy Road, Athens, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at 11 a.m., followed by a reception in Lewis Parish Hall, with interment at Oconee Hill Cemetery at 1:30 p.m.
Remembrances may be made to the Marion Tyus Butler Scholarship in Mass Communications at the University of Georgia or St. Stephen's Anglican Church, 800 Timothy Road, Athens, Georgia 30606.
She attended the University of Georgia, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and was graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor's degree in English. She was married to the late Lt. William Woodthorp Reade, of Athens, who was killed in action over Europe in the Second World War as a bombadier with the Army Eighth Air Force. In 1946, she married UGA Journalism Professor Marion Tyus Butler, who later became the long-time Director of Alumni Relations. Gene and Tyus Butler had been married over 62 years when he died in 2009.
Mrs. Butler ultimately earned a Master of Arts degree in English from UGA, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She taught English Literature and Grammar at Gainesville Junior College and the University of Georgia. During that time, she wrote and edited, as Chief Editor, the college English grammar and usage textbook Correct Writing, published for many years and utilized at colleges across the country.
The name and voice of Gene Butler were also widely recognized in the Athens community, not only through her volunteer service with the Athens Junior Assembly and Northeast Georgia Heart Association, but also from her long-running programs on radio station WGAU, the most popular of which were Christmas and Easter shopping programs and, especially, her Sunday evening show "Strictly Jazz," the name and concept for which were eventually syndicated and broadcast nationally.
Gene was baptized at St. Luke's Church, Memphis, and confirmed in the Episcopal Church at St. Luke's Church, Atlanta. She was a long-time communicant of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens, and later a founding member of St. Stephen's Anglican Church of Athens.
She is survived by her sons, Williams W. Reade, Jr. and wife, Shirlee, of Athens; M. Tyus Butler, Jr. and wife, Suzanne, of Savannah; and Thomas W. Butler of Macon; grandchildren, Laurie Endris, of Minneapolis; Jenny Reid, of St. Louis; Margaret Erwin Butler, of New Orleans; Marion Tyus Butler III and Robert Walker Butler, both of Savannah; great-grandson, Ralph Dillon Maurer, of New Orleans; and niece, Margaret Jackson Reynolds, of Atlanta.
The funeral will be held at St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Timothy Road, Athens, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at 11 a.m., followed by a reception in Lewis Parish Hall, with interment at Oconee Hill Cemetery at 1:30 p.m.
Remembrances may be made to the Marion Tyus Butler Scholarship in Mass Communications at the University of Georgia or St. Stephen's Anglican Church, 800 Timothy Road, Athens, Georgia 30606.
Laurie Eugenia Walker Butler, of Athens, died on Friday, March 9, 2012. She was born in Union Springs, Alabama, on July 24, 1920, the daughter of Laurie Jinks and Thomas Frederick Walker, then of Memphis. After briefly living in Memphis, she moved with her parents to Atlanta, where she grew up.
She attended the University of Georgia, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and was graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor's degree in English. She was married to the late Lt. William Woodthorp Reade, of Athens, who was killed in action over Europe in the Second World War as a bombadier with the Army Eighth Air Force. In 1946, she married UGA Journalism Professor Marion Tyus Butler, who later became the long-time Director of Alumni Relations. Gene and Tyus Butler had been married over 62 years when he died in 2009.
Mrs. Butler ultimately earned a Master of Arts degree in English from UGA, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She taught English Literature and Grammar at Gainesville Junior College and the University of Georgia. During that time, she wrote and edited, as Chief Editor, the college English grammar and usage textbook Correct Writing, published for many years and utilized at colleges across the country.
The name and voice of Gene Butler were also widely recognized in the Athens community, not only through her volunteer service with the Athens Junior Assembly and Northeast Georgia Heart Association, but also from her long-running programs on radio station WGAU, the most popular of which were Christmas and Easter shopping programs and, especially, her Sunday evening show "Strictly Jazz," the name and concept for which were eventually syndicated and broadcast nationally.
Gene was baptized at St. Luke's Church, Memphis, and confirmed in the Episcopal Church at St. Luke's Church, Atlanta. She was a long-time communicant of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens, and later a founding member of St. Stephen's Anglican Church of Athens.
She is survived by her sons, Williams W. Reade, Jr. and wife, Shirlee, of Athens; M. Tyus Butler, Jr. and wife, Suzanne, of Savannah; and Thomas W. Butler of Macon; grandchildren, Laurie Endris, of Minneapolis; Jenny Reid, of St. Louis; Margaret Erwin Butler, of New Orleans; Marion Tyus Butler III and Robert Walker Butler, both of Savannah; great-grandson, Ralph Dillon Maurer, of New Orleans; and niece, Margaret Jackson Reynolds, of Atlanta.
The funeral will be held at St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Timothy Road, Athens, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at 11 a.m., followed by a reception in Lewis Parish Hall, with interment at Oconee Hill Cemetery at 1:30 p.m.
Remembrances may be made to the Marion Tyus Butler Scholarship in Mass Communications at the University of Georgia or St. Stephen's Anglican Church, 800 Timothy Road, Athens, Georgia 30606.
She attended the University of Georgia, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and was graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor's degree in English. She was married to the late Lt. William Woodthorp Reade, of Athens, who was killed in action over Europe in the Second World War as a bombadier with the Army Eighth Air Force. In 1946, she married UGA Journalism Professor Marion Tyus Butler, who later became the long-time Director of Alumni Relations. Gene and Tyus Butler had been married over 62 years when he died in 2009.
Mrs. Butler ultimately earned a Master of Arts degree in English from UGA, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She taught English Literature and Grammar at Gainesville Junior College and the University of Georgia. During that time, she wrote and edited, as Chief Editor, the college English grammar and usage textbook Correct Writing, published for many years and utilized at colleges across the country.
The name and voice of Gene Butler were also widely recognized in the Athens community, not only through her volunteer service with the Athens Junior Assembly and Northeast Georgia Heart Association, but also from her long-running programs on radio station WGAU, the most popular of which were Christmas and Easter shopping programs and, especially, her Sunday evening show "Strictly Jazz," the name and concept for which were eventually syndicated and broadcast nationally.
Gene was baptized at St. Luke's Church, Memphis, and confirmed in the Episcopal Church at St. Luke's Church, Atlanta. She was a long-time communicant of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens, and later a founding member of St. Stephen's Anglican Church of Athens.
She is survived by her sons, Williams W. Reade, Jr. and wife, Shirlee, of Athens; M. Tyus Butler, Jr. and wife, Suzanne, of Savannah; and Thomas W. Butler of Macon; grandchildren, Laurie Endris, of Minneapolis; Jenny Reid, of St. Louis; Margaret Erwin Butler, of New Orleans; Marion Tyus Butler III and Robert Walker Butler, both of Savannah; great-grandson, Ralph Dillon Maurer, of New Orleans; and niece, Margaret Jackson Reynolds, of Atlanta.
The funeral will be held at St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Timothy Road, Athens, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at 11 a.m., followed by a reception in Lewis Parish Hall, with interment at Oconee Hill Cemetery at 1:30 p.m.
Remembrances may be made to the Marion Tyus Butler Scholarship in Mass Communications at the University of Georgia or St. Stephen's Anglican Church, 800 Timothy Road, Athens, Georgia 30606.
Family Members
See more Butler or Walker Reade memorials in:
- Oconee Hill Cemetery Butler or Walker Reade
- Athens Butler or Walker Reade
- Clarke County Butler or Walker Reade
- Georgia Butler or Walker Reade
- USA Butler or Walker Reade
- Find a Grave Butler or Walker Reade
