Victor Walter Butler

Victor Walter Butler, 102, passed away peacefully, on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, at the Veterans Hospice Center in Erie, PA, after a brief illness. Born in Providence, Rhode Island on May 21, 1922, Mr. Butler was the son of the late Clarence Alton Butler and Sarah Louise (Morris) Butler. Senora Butler, his beloved wife and best friend for close to 37 years, mourns his loss along with his five children, five stepchildren, other family members, and many friends. 

Victor Butler lived a fully active, lucid, joyous life right up to the end. Mr. Butler always put the welfare of family, friends, colleagues, and others ahead of and above his own priorities. He did not hesitate to make a small or significant sacrifice for anyone in need, all done without fanfare or a wish for acknowledgment or recognition. He never held a grudge and that may be the secret to his longevity.

The part of Victor Butler’s life many of us came to know two years ago, on his 100th birthday, was his service in the US Army Air Corps and official designation as a Documented Original Tuskegee Airman (DOTA). When the war started after Mr. Butler worked for six months at Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co. in Providence, he enlisted shortly before the December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. He served in the US Army Air Corps until the war ended in 1946, finishing up at the Walterboro Air Base in South Carolina after catching the flu and missing his flight to serve in Europe. Mr. Butler trained at Tuskegee, Oscoda, and Selfridge air bases, as well as Bell Aircraft Corporation in Buffalo NY. 

Notably, while in training at Bell Aircraft, Victor Butler was a member of the ground crew for the test flight of the first US-built jet aircraft, a Bell P-P59 Airacomet fighter, in Buffalo, in September, 1942. After the test flight, the crews disassembled and shipped the aircraft in sections by train for its official maiden voyage in the air on October 1, 1942, in California. Mr. Butler worked as crew chief and mechanic on the legendary P-51 Mustang, and the P-39, P-46, and P-47 Thunderbolt planes, among others. After World War II, Mr. Butler resumed his work at Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company for 37 years, followed by running his own machine shop business until retirement. In his free time, he enjoyed weekend drives with the family, swimming at Goddard Park, and his time for bowling every Friday night with a Providence bowling league until he was close to 80. Mr. Butler was a consummate Red Sox baseball fan and devotee of New England Patriots football. 

At 100 years of age, Victor Butler’s Tuskegee Airman story literally took much of the social media platforms by storm and went viral. He received awards, commemorations, kudos in many forms, and over 200,000 greeting cards from throughout the world. US flags were flown in his honor at the US Capitol in Washington, DC; the US Pentagon; and on a battleship on the troubled waters in Iraq. His New England Patriots made him Player #100 and honored him with an official #100 team jersey. Now at 102 years, we celebrate a life well lived, by a strong-willed gentle giant. 

Mr. Butler is survived by his wife, Senora Husband Butler; children Yvonne J. Butler, Victoria Butler Ola; Michelle Butler Depeza (Richard), Gary W. Butler (Narda M. Raymond), and Carolyn L. Butler; and stepchildren Dinah Urbaniak (Gerry), Gregory Moore, Margaret Moore Pou, Delphine Moore Holloway, and Craig Moore (Glenda); as well as nieces and nephews, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his sisters and brothers, Clarence Morris Butler, Alton Butler, S. Louise Walker, Kenneth Butler, Charles H. Butler, and Catherine Lewis. 

On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, a viewing will be convened from 12 pm – 1:00 pm, followed by a funeral service at 1:00 pm, both at New Life and Spiritual Revival Center, 315 East 9th Street, Erie PA 16503. Burial to follow in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 5711 West Lake Road, Erie, PA 16505. Arrangements are entrusted to Burton Quinn Scott Cremation & Funeral Service Inc. Downtown, 602 W. 10th Street, Erie. 

Flowers may only be sent to New Life and Spiritual Revival Center and/or you may send donations in honor of Victor W. Butler to the Tuskegee Wings of Pride Recognition Program scholarship fund, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Go to: https://tuskegeeairmen.org/support/recognition-program/

Send Condolences to www.BurtonQuinnScott.com