William Patrick Butler

Our Dad, William Patrick Butler (Bill), passed away peacefully on March 30, 2021, at the age of 87.  After being raised in Manhattan, he graduated from Iona College then proudly joined the United States Marine Corps.  He met and married the love and light of his life, Margie (Ribaudo).  Together, they moved to Oakland, then Mahwah, New Jersey, to begin their family, who they taught to love and respect our God, our country, our flag, and other important things like the NY Giants and the Yankees.  They retired to Cape Cod for 20 years and enjoyed the Cape life, especially when joined by their children and grandchildren.  After Mom died in 2016, he returned to NJ for the remainder of his earthly life.

Dad was born on February 13,1934 in Brooklyn to Mary (Sweeney) and William (Bill) Butler.  He was the jokester husband of our Mom, Margie, for 58 years, and has missed her in so many visible and invisible ways for the past 4 years.  Our comfort now is knowing that they are together again smiling and finishing each other’s sentences.

Dad leaves his adoring children Stacey Deem (Chuck), Pam Dugan (Jerry); Bill Butler (Toni Ann); and Brad Butler (Kim)..  He loved his children-in-law as he loved each of us.  A proud Grandpa to 12 grandchildren, he couldn’t wait for us to visit and call to share his grandkids’ successes and exploits.  Grandpa leaves Zack, Katie, Andrew and Kelsie Butler; Alexis, Nikki, Drew, and Jake Butler; Tyler and James Dugan; Patrick and Caroline Deem.  He is also survived by his little sister (another jokester) Mary Lou Feniello (Peter), and is pre-deceased by his brother Tommy.  Also surviving Dad are his beloved in-laws Joni and Brendan Wittlinger, and Mickey and Gail Ribaudo, and his favorite cousins Jerry and Ellie Sweeney and Sheila Muller.

We will forever miss Dad’s stories….and being told to “raise our hands if we’d heard that one before”.  Stories about growing up during the Depression, and how hard his parents worked to feed their family and support the war effort.  The role of the Church and Catholic school in his life growing up.  We grew up regaled with such colorful detail that we felt like we knew Walter Tice, Donny Cashman, Bobby Heller and all the guys from the neighborhood.  The shenanigans of the Oakland crew and especially our dear neighbors the Fischers in the ‘60s always brought a laugh.  They knew how to have fun!  The stories of the IBM-ers  are part of the fabric of our lives from the Dolans and the Schultzes to so many more.

If you’re reading this, you’re one of the many whose lives he touched, who he laughed with, who he cared about in his own way.  You’re probably someone in one of his encylopedia of stories, like we are.

We are heartbroken today but will laugh with him again one day in the presence of the Lord.

If you would like to make a donation, Dad’s favorite charity was the Tunnel 2 Towers Foundation (T2T.org)

Stacey, Pam, Billy, and Brad and our families