Frances T. Butler

Frances T. Butler, 95, was born on October 1, 1922 in The Orchard, Kenosha, Wisconsin and is survived by her daughter Barbara (Clay); grandchildren Ruth, Joseph and Kelly; great grandchildren Alexandrew and Freya; and niece Mary (John). Fran served in the Marine Corps in World War II, and afterward graduated from the University of Wisconsin with studies in Music and History. She was an accomplished seamstress, pianist, and singer; she enjoyed reading, knitting, and crocheting. Fran reupholstered furniture and made furniture covers, handmade choir robes, costumes, and crocheted and knitted blankets sweaters and booties. She also made many of the clothes she and Barbara wore. She loved to travel and has visited and camped in many forests and parks across the country, as well as having visited Europe twice. Fran has lived in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, San Antonio TX, several towns in Colorado, Dallas TX and moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1970. Fran was active in community music performances in Colorado and active in every church she attended. She served as Choir Director at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in La Junta Colorado and was Senior Warden there for a short time. She worked as a part time Church Secretary, served several terms on Vestry, was a Lay Eucharistic Minister and a member of Daughters of the King at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Las Cruces. After retiring from government service, she worked part time until she was 92 years old for The Institute of Historical Survey Foundation in Las Cruces organizing and cataloguing church records for filing and electronic retrieval. She moved to Thornton, Colorado in 2014 and lived with her daughter’s family until recently. A Memorial Service will be held at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 518 N. Alameda, Las Cruces, New Mexico on June 16, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. Please share your memories of Frances and condolences with her family by signing the guestbook below.