Dr. Butler was born in Pawhuska, Oklahoma on June 14, 1924 to Rose Ann Cummings Butler and Joel Robert Butler. He has no siblings. He attended public schools in Bartlesville and other Oklahoma locations as well as in California for a short period of time. He graduated from Bartlesville High School in 1941 and subsequently traveled to Alaska at the invitation of a close boyhood friend. Soon thereafter, he joined the Merchant Marine and twice traveled around the world prior to the age of 18. He served in Air-Sea Rescue during WWII as well as in the Atlantic and Pacific war zones as a midshipman. Dr. Butler married Emma Lou Pfaff in April, 1945. They homesteaded in Alaska for approximately four years before he attended college in California. He earned an A.A. degree from the College of San Mateo in 1956, a B.A. degree in Psychology from San Francisco State College in 1958 (magna cum laude), an M.S. degree in Applied Psychology from San Francisco State College in 1959 and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Louisiana State University in 1962. Dr. Butler subsequently worked as a research psychologist for the Collaborative Child Development Program in the Charity Hospital Unit in New Orleans, LA (1963-65), as a consulting psychologist for Volunteers in Service to America (1965-66), as visiting Associate Professor at the University of Georgia in Athens (1966-67), as Professor and Dean of Academic Affairs at Macon Junior College in Macon, GA, and as Professor and Clinical Director at Virginia Commonwealth University prior to accepting the position of Professor and Chairman of the Dept. of Psychology (1974-81) at the University of North Texas in 1974. He remained at UNT as professor until 1992 when he became a general partner of the Cimarron Steak House in Oklahoma City, OK. Dr. Butler received many honors for his contributions to the field of psychology. He was a fellow in the American Psychological Society and American Psychological Association and held offices in various psychological organizations. He was a creative and innovative professional with the gift of encouraging students, colleagues, and patients to achieve to their highest potential. He was one of the primary developers of the Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine program at the University of North Texas and a pioneer in the evaluation and treatment of individuals with chemical/environmental sensitivities and/or exposures to toxic/neurotoxic substances. A research foundation has been established in his name to further his work in the psychological and neurocognitive aspects of environmental medicine. Dr. Butler was preceded in death by his parents and by his wife, Emmy, in 1999. He is survived by his aunt, Dorothy Haines, of Dewey, OK, brother-in-law, Dr. Kenneth Pfaff of Cottonwood, ID and many cousins. He will be greatly missed by his family, many colleagues and friends, and former students and patients for his gentle kindness, quick wit, generosity, and superb sense of humor.
Dr. Butler died of the complications of Parkinson's disease on Thursday December 11, 2008 at the age of 84. He had been residing at the Healthcare Center of the Legacy at Willow Bend in Plano, TX for the past five months while maintaining his permanent residence in Dewey, OK. Dr. Butler has lived in Dewey since retiring from the University of North Texas in 1992. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, December 15, 2008 in the New Hope Indian Methodist Church in Dewey. The Rev. Michael Svitak will be the officiant. Committal prayers and interment will be directed in the Dewey City Cemetery by the Arnold Moore - Dewey Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held to honor and celebrate his life, the Rev. Cal Calvin, officiating, on January 10, 2009 at 2 p.m. at the Unity Church of Dallas in Dallas, Texas.