Hugh Cato Butler, 86

Dr. Hugh Cato Butler, DVM, passed away from natural causes in Austin, Texas, on July 23, 2011.

Hugh was born in Helena on Jan. 7, 1925, the oldest son of Dr. W.J. and John Ozella (Cato) Butler. He attended Hawthorne Elementary School, Helena High School and graduated from the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M.

In 1936, on Lower Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park, the Butler family was honored by the Blackfeet Indian tribe and ceremonially adopted. The Blackfeet Indians gave Hugh the name "Flying Eagle," and sparked his lifelong admiration of the American Indian culture and, more specifically, the Blackfeet tribe.

Hugh Butler served in the U.S. Army in the Enlisted Corps during 1943 to 1945, during which he served an overseas combat tour in Germany with Co. B, 393rd Infantry Regiment. Pfc. Butler fought in the infamous Battle of the Bulge in 1944. Then in 1945, Pfc. Butler was commissioned as an officer until his honorable discharge from active duty as a second lieutenant in 1946. During this time he served as company commander of Co. D, 107th Battalion, 76th Infantry. He remained in the Army Reserves until his separation from the Army in 1954. 

While in the Army Reserves, Butler attended Montana State College and received his bachelor's degree in applied sciences and a master's degree in microbiology. He later attended Washington State University, where he received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1954 and a master's degree in physiology. 

While attending Montana State College, Butler met the love of his life, Jacqueline Mary Schlitgus, in 1947. From their wedding date of Aug. 7, 1948, until the day of Jackie’s passing, April 12, 2010, they remained devoted to one another.

During their 61 years of marriage they shared similar passions — dinner parties with many dear friends, ranching and horseback riding, motorcycle touring, boating and camping, water skiing, snow skiing, whitewater rafting, dancing, singing, photography, traveling into Mexico, Canada, Alaska and around the world, writing, attending powwows, and in their retirement years, sharing in their three sons’ families’ lives and regaling all of their rich family history and personal adventures.

Dr. Butler's veterinary career started as the assistant state veterinarian for the Montana Livestock Sanitary Board. Beginning in 1955, he served professorships at Washington State University in animal surgery and physiology. In 1964, he moved to New York, where he was a small animal surgeon with the Animal Medical Center and engaged in research with the Sloane-Kettering Institute in Manhattan, N.Y.

Then, in 1968, Butler moved to Manhattan, Kan., where he served as a professor of surgery at Kansas State University until his retirement in 1986. During that time he was a pioneer in kidney transplant for dogs, and the orthopedic surgical techniques he pioneered and developed helped advance the science of artificial joint replacement. In 2000, in light of his professional achievements and meritorious service to science, he was chosen to receive the prestigious E.R. Frank Award from Kansas State University.

After his retirement in 1986, Butler moved to a log cabin, “Lodge of the Eagle,” outside Kalispell, a lifelong dream that he and his wife shared. Their love for the Flathead Valley has been passed down to their children and grandchildren. In 2002, Butler and his wife moved to Austin to be close to family.

Dr. Butler was predeceased by his parents; wife, Jacqueline; and son, Benjamin.

He is survived by his son, Hugh Daniel Butler, and wife, Sheri, of Elgin, Ill., granddaughter Elizabeth Butler Orcutt and husband Matthew Orcutt, and grandson Hugh Christopher Butler. He is also survived by his son, John Butler, and wife, Judy, of Austin, granddaughter Camille Butler, and grandson Samuel Butler. Dr. Butler is also survived by his son Ben's widow, Nell Butler, of Austin, and her daughter, Rebekah Clark Alfaro and husband Martin Alfaro. 

Also surviving Dr. Butler are his dear brother, Cato Butler, and his wife, Dora, of Helena, along with nieces and nephews, Cheye Ann Butler of Libby, Sioux Butler Roth of Helena, and Tommy Butler of Helena; his sister-in-law, Gerry (Schlitgus) Eagan, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; nieces, Maura Eagan of Santa Rosa, and Ann Ivan of Rye, N.Y.; and his brother-in-law, Hugh Canney (wife Winifred Schlitgus, deceased) and family of Rochester, Minn.

The Butler family would like to thank all of the staff at Heartland Health Care of Austin and Odyssey Hospice for the friendship and loving kindnesses they extended to both Hugh and Jackie Butler over the past two years.

 The family will gather to memorialize and celebrate the lives of Hugh and Jacqueline Butler at the foot of Wolf Mountain in Two Medicine on Sept. 3, as they so desired.

Memorial contributions in memory of Hugh and Jackie may be made with Rails to Trails.