Robert Lockwood Button

Born on May 8, 1940, in Washington D.C., he was a son of the late Robert O. and Caroline Lockwood Button of Marshalltown, Iowa.

He is survived by his wife and best friend for 53 years, Nancy Kathleen Button; daughter Kristin and her husband Frank Wright of Brookneal, Virginia; son Geoff Button and his wife Kari Sorenson of Chicago, Illinois; much loved grandsons Austin and Matthew Wright and granddaughter Audrey Button; sister and brother-in-law Judy and Jay Oswood of Marshalltown; and brother and sister-in-law Jim and Linda Button of Effingham, Illinois, nieces and nephews, and thousands of former students.

Bob graduated in 1962 from the University of Northern Iowa with a B.A. in English and speech education and in 1969 from the University of Iowa with an M.A. in journalism. He taught and advised student publications for four years at West High School in Waterloo, Iowa, and for 28 years at Grosse Pointe South High School in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. He also wrote and edited part-time for the Detroit Free Press and taught high school and college journalism workshops across the country. He was named the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year in 1988 and was inducted into both the Michigan (professional) Journalism Hall of Fame and the National Scholastic Journalism Hall of Fame in 1989.

He came to Charlottesville in 1994 to work as activities director for the Virginia High School League, coordinating statewide activities – theater, forensics, debate, student publications, creative writing and scholastic bowl (a program he helped establish). He was inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame in 2010. Following retirement from VHSL in 2005, Bob became an active volunteer at the Charlottesville theater Live Arts, working backstage, frequently as a stage manager, on 15 shows and more than 20 events, while also serving on the Board of Directors.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, January 2nd at 3pm in The Gibson Theater at Live Arts, 123 Water Street, Charlottesville, Virginia. Those interested in viewing the service via livestream can obtain the link from any family member’s Facebook page, on Twitter at @kbuttonw, or join at youtube.com/liveartstheater. To honor Bob’s memory, gifts should be made to the Robert L. Button Scholarships for Excellence in Journalism at Grosse Pointe South High School. Checks should be made out to the Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education with “The Tower Fund” in the memo field and sent to Tower Scholarship, Grosse Pointe South High School, 11 Grosse Pointe Blvd., Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, 48236.