Mr. John Charles Butterfield, 86, of Sunset Hills, Missouri passed away Friday morning, March 28th amidst the loving comfort of his wife and children. He was born November 8, 1938 in Winterset, Iowa, son of Charles and Lela Butterfield.
John was raised in Iowa and received his Bachelor’s degree from Drake University in 1961 in Business Administration. John served in many executive positions throughout his career, all focused on serving the communities in which he lived. He served as a loan analyst and bank manager early in his career. He was Assistant Finance Director for Broadlawns Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa; served as Director of Research for the state of Iowa Development Commission; and operated as a Provider Representative to the medical community for IASD Health Services Corporation.
In November of 1961 John married his college sweetheart, Bonnie Jean Richter. The following year their first child was born, and in total, they would have three boys separated by eight years. One of his greatest joys in life was raising his boys and he took profound pride in their successes throughout life.
John had an energy and zest for life. He particularly enjoyed the outdoors and had lifetime hobbies of fishing and hunting. Many family vacations were spent camping and exploring in the mountains of Colorado. And he particularly enjoyed family weekend camping and fishing trips to Nine Eagles State Park in southern Iowa. John also participated in civil war re-enactments, frontier rendezvouses, and was a flag bearer for the Scottish Heritage Bagpipe band. He was an avid reader and story teller, but his biggest passion was spending time with family and friends. He lived for visits from his sons and their families.
John is survived in death by his wife of 63 years, Bonnie Jean Butterfield; his eldest son Scott Charles Butterfield (wife Lisa) of Naperville, Illinois; his second son Thomas John Butterfield (wife Kristi) of Edina, Minnesota; and his youngest son Chad Herman Butterfield (wife Tammy) of Ames Iowa. He is survived also by 6 adoring grandchildren: Abbi Butterfield, Jack Butterfield (wife Nazanin), Maddie Butterfield, Jessa Butterfield, Spencer Butterfield and Lilli Butterfield. He is survived as well by his sister Jane Davis.
In keeping with John’s life-long commitment to serving and giving back to his community, and his deep belief in the value of education, John’s body will be donated to Washington University teaching hospital. A celebration of life will be held in his memory April 19th at 10:30am at St. Thomas/Holy Spirit, 3980 South Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63127, where John was an active member.
I consider John a brother. He taught me things growing up in Winterset. How to ride a bike, roller skating, and probable a lot of other things I won’t mention.
John and I were like brothers and we did a lot of things together. And uh, I’ll always remember him. The way he was the way we were, it’s a wonder, we didn’t end up in jail.
John certainly led a long and wonderful life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bonnie and family. May God bless you all.
Remember him well in our class of 1957 , Remember the house the family lived in . Sounds as he had a great family and life . Thinking of your family , I lost my husband 5years ago and it’s hard .