July 04, 1925 - April 03, 2022
The services celebrating and honoring the extraordinary life of Mary Catherine (McMillen) Butler, 96, of Oklahoma City formerly of Enid will be held 2:00 P.M. Friday April 8, 2022, in the First United Methodist Church with Pastor Devon Krause officiating. Burial will follow in the Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home.
Mary McMillen Butler was born at home near Enid, Oklahoma on July 4, 1925 to RW and Mary McMillen. At the time of her birth, the doctor remarked that she was the ugliest baby he had ever seen. When he came back in 2 months to do a check-up, he accused Mary’s parents of switching her with another baby because she had become so beautiful.
Her love of swimming came very early in life because she loved playing in the farm ponds near their home. However, she almost drowned at Lake Helena causing her mother to take Mary to Government Springs Park for swimming lessons from the Red Cross. Mary was slightly uncoordinated and did not pass her swimming tests until she was 40, but she never gave up.
While attending Enid High School she received special permission to miss first hour. Mary worked at the family dairy before school milking cows, bottling milk, and delivering it to customers, all before 9:00. After school she did the same thing. It was a hard schedule, but once more, Mary persevered.
As a teenager, Mary was a national 4-H winner and multiple champion winner with her dairy cows, but left it all behind to take care of her grandparents in Illinois until their death.
She met the love of her life, Lacey Butler, shortly after WW2 ended. They were married within 4weeks of their first date. After 20 years of marriage and 4 children, Mary, aged 40, wanted to go to work as a lunch lady to help augment the farm income. Lacey told her no, insisting that she go back to college to get her degree and fulfill her dream for teaching. Eventually, she earned a Master’s degree and became an elementary school principal, helping to break the glass ceiling for other women in school administration. Many of her school children continue to keep in touch with her to this day.
After retirement, Mary became very involved in PEO. She was living proof of never giving up one’s dreams and the importance of finishing school, both of which PEO embraced. She also loved the mission of the YWCA. After making and donating thousands of quilts for abused children and dialysis patients, she was named Woman of the Year.
Mary Butler’s legacy includes a loving heart, generous character, and a deep faith in God. Starting school in a one-room schoolhouse she continued her love of learning, encouraging her family to honor the power of education. Mary was an advocate for the rejected and disenfranchised, and she treated people with kindness, dignity and respect no matter who they were. Everyone loved Mary.
Survivors include sister Francis Miller, children Dan Butler, Ann Worden (Randy), Kathryn Turner (Craig), daughters in law Glenace and Kathie Butler; grandchildren Jennie Scott, Philip Butler (Casey), Stacy Blattner (Jeff), Sandy Worden, Alex Turner, Mathew Turner (Amanda), Kacie Martin (Tyler), Mary Nemcok (Jeffrey), Glen Habbershaw plus 14 great grandchildren: Edward, Aline, Aiden, Addie, Matthew, Grace, Emery, Ella Kate, Ford, Luke, Penelope, Maria, Anna, and baby Faith Noelle.
Mary was proceeded in death by her parents, brother John McMillen, sister Ellen Phillips, son Sherman Butler, and her great love, Lacey Butler Jr. Mary went to be with Lacey in heaven on April 3, 2022
Memorials may be made in her honor to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Enid Public School Foundation.
Condolences may be made to the family online at www.Brown-Cummings.com. As one of Oklahomaʼs oldest single family owned and operated providers of funerals and cremations, Brown-Cummings is the name families have turned to for generations. They fully understand the honor and responsibility entrusted to them to preserve the story of oneʼs life. Visit 400 W. Maple, Enid, OK 73701. Call: (580) 237-5432.
Obituaries are posted, in part, due to the generosity of The Commons.
A United Methodist Retirement Community
Tours: 301 S. Oakwood | (580) 237-6164
Enid's Only Faith-based, Not-For-Profit, Complete Continuous Care Community. Including Long Term Care, Skilled Nursing, Memory Care, Assisted Living, Independent Living Apartments and Townhomes.
