Howard D. Butler

Howard Darwin Butler, son of the late Edward and Mary Etta (Boyea) Butler-Hurteau, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts on March 8, 1916. He lived his early years at Canonchet Farm in Narragansett, where his grandfather was the caretaker. After that, he lived his whole life in Wakefield except for 5 years of military service during WWII. His military service was very important to him, partly because that’s where he met his wife Jean, in Biloxi, Mississippi. He also served as a light truck/ambulance driver in States and in the Philippines. Home from the war, they built a boat that Howard designed, the “Sheldrake”, and after many years of pleasure, they sold the boat and started building a house on Winchester Drive in Wakefield, on his beloved Salt Pond, where he lived for nearly forty years. Howard did everything himself, including digging the basement with a shovel and wheelbarrow. Duck hunting was his particular passion and he lived as much of his life as possible out of doors. He and Jean often went on road trips, crisscrossing the country in their camper, wherever the roads took them. He was a man of strong faith and strong physical abilities who had great appreciation for living in the “paradise” of Rhode Island. He always saw the best in people and events, and the world will be a little less bright without him. Howard retired after many years from the maintenance department of the University of Rhode Island. He resided at South Bay Manor in Wakefield for the past 17 years. He was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Jean (Jenkinson), and is survived by his three nieces, Elizabeth Messerer of Banning, California, Margaret Kline of Laramie, Wyoming, Jane Adams, also of Laramie, Wyoming, and a half-sister, Harriet Butler, of Brushton, New York. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, January 24th, at 10 AM in St. Francis of Assisi Church, 114 High Street, Wakefield. Burial with military honors will follow in Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery, Exeter. Visiting hours are respectfully omitted.