Dottie Butcher
Promise Fund

Our Mom had a natural determination in her that she developed at a very young age. She had a tough childhood that included losing her Mother prior to the age of 10, then living part-time with a Father who was stressfully dealing with raising Five Daughters and a young Son. With the guidance of her Sisters and Brother, along with living with Aunt Dot and Uncle Bernard, she was determined to take the negatives that life had thrown at her during her youth and turn them into positive situations.

As a teenager, she was still dealing with the daily stresses of her home life. She met young Jim Butcher at a local Teen Club. Our Dad graduated from Trinity High School in 1965 and immediately became a Pipe Fitter. After Mom graduated from Holy Rosary in 1966, they decided to get married and start a family.

In September 1967 Mom and Dad became a family. They were a great fit for one another, even at such a young age. They were both looking for the stability and traits that the other one had in their life. In November 1969 Doug was born and in October 1973, they expanded their family again with the birth of David.

Like all young families, there were struggles, but Mom and Dad always had the best interest of their Family as the first and most important priority. As kids we were blessed with being raised in a Catholic Church and given a Catholic Education. We were all very active in school projects and sports. It was incredibly gratifying to participate in events and always see our parents there to support us. Our parents always took us on awesome vacations-many of which were tough to afford.

Life was moving along as a typical middle-class family then in April 1986 Nick was born. We were all Three blessed with great childhoods. We will always wonder why we were born into such a wonderful family, including our Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc.

Over the years Mom’s wisdom was incredibly evident. She was wise beyond her years. What was really incredible is that she was determined to make sure her kids had opportunities that were never given to her. Our Mom pushed us all to higher education. She pushed us to do things that we really didn't want to do at the time, but she knew would be good for us. Our Parents always wanted things for us that were better than what they had.

It was great to grow up with a Mom who had such a positive attitude towards life. Our Mom truly saw the good in every situation, the only road that she knew in life was the High Road. Dad taught us work ethic, Mom taught us courtesy.

As we progressed as a Family, we were blessed to have Lisa (George) Butcher come into our family. Lisa was the daughter that our Mom never had. They quickly bonded and immediately had love, trust and respect for one another.

Mom was blessed with a “green thumb.” She kept her yard beautiful and her house immaculate. She loved to work in the yard, take walks with her friends and her good buddy Tyler, our family dog. She had a great group of friends and siblings who were truly treasures in her life.

Mom and Dad were beginning to discuss the future, including retirement, and really enjoying time together as their kids were now adults.

In May 2007, we noticed our Mom having slurred speech, and our world has never been close to the same since. After months of tests it was obvious that our Mom had the most cruel disease-ALS. She was so determined to defeat ALS, but this disease is relentless. Our Mom moved to Heaven in February 2009. This day was truly Earth's loss and Heaven's gain.

Although we know she is in a much better place now, we greatly miss Mom. She really enjoyed life with her family. We are still inspired by her wisdom, guidance, positive attitude, laugh and love hearing stories of her. We can never put into words how much we love and miss her.

Photos - Dottie and Family
Dottie Butcher

Remembering Dottie

 
 
 
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