Anna Mae Butler

Anna Butler died Thursday, Dec. 23, 2010, in Chestertown, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 85. She was predeceased by her parents, Dorothy Billington and J. Floyd McClymonds; her brother, Robert Joseph McClymonds; her husband, Robert Carlyle Butler; and their son, Robert Carlyle Butler Jr. Mrs. Butler was born Anna Mae McClymonds on Jan. 16, 1925 in the western Pennsylvania town of Grove City, where her father was the publisher and editor of a weekly newspaper. Mrs. Butler absorbed both his love of writing and of reading, which remained among her favorite pastimes until the last years of her life. Mrs. Butler met the love of her life, Bob Butler, in high school. They married in 1944 after she graduated from Grove City Col-lege with majors in French and Spanish. Their marriage would last through 65 years, three children, and eight transfers as Mr. Butler’s job with the DuPont Company took the family around the country. In addition to her devotion to her children and their activities, Mrs. Butler sought out volunteer opportunities wherever she went. She was active in school PTAs, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. She worked tirelessly as a valued member of the drug rehabilitation team at the Tulsa Psychiatric Center. She edited the Hockessin Community News. She was a certified Stevens Ministry Counselor, offering Christian peer support. At the age of 50, Mrs. Butler earned a pilot’s license in order to become Mr. Butler’s co-pilot. She was always ready with a helping hand, a listening ear and a batch of Congo Bars. She is survived by two daughters and their spouses, Carol and James Haynes, of Spencerport, N.Y. and Ellen and Michael Foster, of Grasonville, Md.; and grandchildren, Robert C. Butler III and daughter-in-law, Mary Virginia Butler, of Tulsa, Okla.; Morgan Foster Robinson and Claire Foster Avett, both of Washington, D.C.; Ellen Haynes Childs, of Ghana, West Africa; and Christopher James Haynes, of Boulder, Col. Mrs. Butler is also survived by three great-grandchildren, Taggart and Carlyle Butler, of Tulsa, and Tilghman Stevens Avett, of Washington, D.C. Memorial donations to further research into Alzheimer’s disease can be sent to Johns Hopkins University, Department of Pathology/Ross 558, 720 Rutland Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205; Attention: Elaine Delman. Please make checks payable to Johns Hopkins University and put Mrs. Butler’s name on the memo line of the check.

Anna Mae Butler

January 16, 1925 - December 23, 2010