Roy Anderson Butler

Former Austin Mayor Roy Butler passed away peacefully on Friday, November 13, 2009. He was the first directly elected Mayor in Austin's history in 1971 (Previously the Mayor was selected by fellow City Council members). In 1973 he won re-election against 5 opponents and received the most votes ever cast for an Austin Mayor to this day, even with Austin having over 3 times as many voters as in 1973. Prior to being elected Mayor, he served 9 years on the Austin School Board, two terms as President of the Board. He was referred to by periodicals as the strongest Mayor since former Mayor Tom Miller. He brought the office of Mayor into the 20th Century. He oversaw the construction of the Mayor's office suite which has served prestigiously for the successor Mayors for the next 33 years. He provided all Council Members, their own private offices (they had none previously), established Administrative Aides of each Council Member, provided mobile radio phones to each member (cell phones were non existent at the time). All the listed amenities are still enjoyed by the current Mayor and Council. In 1973 he purchased for the City the Calcasieu tract for a future city hall (not built until 2004) and constructed the Council Chambers at the former site that served Austin for 33 years. During his Administration he created many lasting legacies: the Airport Police; with the help of Congressman Jake Pickle he brought a new modern bus system to Austin; created the Historic Zoning Ordinance (which was a step toward preservation of Austin Architectural Heritage); passed the Creeks Ordinance, the Emergency Medical Services (EMS); and almost doubled the Police Force without a tax increase. He leaves a legacy of building power plants that today furnish 54% of Austin's electricity (La Grange Coal 40% / Bay City Nuclear 14%). He was a graduate of the University of Texas (economics) and attended UT Law School for 3 years stopping just short of graduation to enter the automobile business. While in UT he met Ann Showers of Houston on a blind date and six months later they married. When in Law School he would attend class in the morning and in the afternoon he would buy older cars, make minor repairs himself and sell them from his house on time payments. When the neighbors complained he rented his first lot at 45th and Lamar (LAMAR MOTORS) that grew to 2 lots and finally 3. Butler owned Roy Butler Lincoln-Mercury from 1960-1976, making it the number one Lincoln dealership in Texas and Oklahoma and was elected by his fellow 4, 600 Ford dealers in the U.S. to be Chairman of the National Dealers Council meeting regularly in Detroit with Henry Ford and Lee Iacocca. Butler was named the "Quality New Car Dealer in the United States in 1972" by TIME magazine, out of 28, 000 new car dealers nationwide. A longtime member of the University of Texas Chancellor's Council, he was elected Chairman under Chancellor Bill Cunningham. He received the highest honor bestowed on an Austin citizen when in 1969 he was named Austin's Most Worthy Citizen. He also owned Ford, Mercury, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Plymouth, Buick, Pontiac, and Rolls Royce dealerships in various Texas cities, selling his last four dealerships in 1989. He also had tractor and heavy duty equipment dealerships in Austin and Temple. His road to business success was paved by following his father's advice: "Work hard and pay your bills early." The broad scope of his business holdings included broadcasting, paging, cellular telephone, real estate (residential and mall development), ranching, wholesale beer distribution, aircraft chartering, broadcast tower construction, banking, in addition to automobiles. He helped create the face of downtown Austin…while other developers talked about downtown living, he established the drawing cards. No major downtown grocery store existed until Roy leased his land at Sixth and Lamar to Whole Foods and GSD&M. The store, along with Book People, became a magnet for downtown. He owned several ranches and raised exotic animals. Butler was a leader in real estate, having co-founded Fiesta, Grand Central Parkway, Avery Ranch, Chandler Creek, Harris Branch, Tuscany Business Park, Amberwood, and Norwood Plaza subdivisions. In the seventies he and partners owned the Stephen F. Austin Hotel. He was honored by LULAC and NAACP during his life. He served in World War II in the U.S. Navy Reserves aboard a fleet tanker in the Atlantic, Indian, Red Sea, Mediterranean, and Pacific Oceans, 1944-1946. He was a graduate of civilian courses at both the National War College and the Air War College. He was one of the most diversified businessmen ever, being a co-founder of Cellular One (now AT&T Wireless) the first cell phone provider in Austin; and founded Constant Paging (now AT&T) and Constant Communication. While at the White House visiting President Johnson in 1965, the President encouraged him to buy KVET Radio. He grew KVET into 3 stations in Austin and 2 in Oklahoma. KASE was number one station in Austin for 22 years. He was appointed Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army by President Carter and twice re-appointed by President Reagan. As aide he held the protocol rank of Lt. General. In 1971 he enlisted Lady Bird Johnson and they established the Town Lake Beautification Committee and started Town Lake's (Lady Bird Lake) development to what it is today. He was Co-founder with Lady Bird Johnson on her 70th birthday in establishing the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and served as its finance chairman. In 1976 out of 2200 applicants he was awarded the Coors beer franchise in Central Texas. Coors of Austin is today's Capitol Beverage and distributes over 40 brands of beer to Travis, Williamson, Hays and Caldwell counties. From 1994 to 1999, he co-chaired with Congressman Jake Pickle the Citizen's Committee overseeing the construction of the new Austin-Bergstrom Airport. He was co-chair with Marialice Shivers (Mrs. Allan Shivers) of the fundraising endeavors that built the current Seton Hospital, and later was co-chair of the fundraising for the Shivers Radiation Center. He founded Reliance County Mutual Insurance Company in 1955 and it is now Ranger County Mutual, one of the largest in Texas. His interest in Law Enforcement has been a life long endeavor, having served as Chairman of the Police Oversight Commission, Chairman of the TCLOSE Training Commission of the Austin Police Academy and the Austin Public Safety Commission. He is a former President and Co-founder of the Austin Crime Commission. He was always interested in Law Enforcement and always had police radios and equipment in his car. He loved to "hang out" with Police personnel. In 2008 he contributed the funds to the Austin Police Department to purchase all new badges for the whole department. They were the first new badges in 37 years. Butler was honored many times by law enforcement agencies; in 1999 as Citizen of the Year by the Texas Department of Public Safety Officer's Association, in 2000 by the Austin Police Association, and in 2008 by Austin Police Chief Acevedo. In 2002 he was commissioned an honorary Colonel by the Austin Police Department, one of only two ever awarded by the Department. He was an associate member of the Austin Police Association. In what he considered the finest honor in his life, in 2009, the Austin City Council named the Police Training Academy the Roy Butler Police Training Academy. He was a founding member of the Admiral's Club, Austin Council of Foreign Affairs, the Knights of the Symphony, UT Club, AARO, and West Austin Rotary Club. He was a member of the Headliners Club, former Chairman of the Headliners Foundation, Tarry House, and Board member of J. P .Morgan Chase Bank, M. D. Anderson Hospital, and Breckenridge Hospital Council. He loved Austin and always said everything good that happened to him was in Austin. He met his wife Ann on a blind date at UT; his children were born here; and Austin had been good to him in business. Honorary Pallbearers are Chief Art Acevedo, Dell Boothe, John Byram, Mike Comer, Hector DeLeon, Frank Denius, Matt Harriss, Joe Holt, Chief Stan Knee, Dr. Michael Lauderdale, John Lewis, Wallace Lundgren, Congressman Michael McCaul, David Miller, Merriman Morton, Bill Munday, Charles Nash, Jim Oakes, Sam Perry, Parker Quillen, Dick Rathgeber, Allan Shivers, Jr., Agent Jack Shumacher, Ford Smith, Sr., Charles Teeple, Mayor Bruce Todd, Ralph Wayne, and Sam Winters. He is survived by his wife Ann; sons Roy, Jr. and Edward and his wife Renee'; daughter Beth and her husband Tom Granger; grandchildren Charles Granger and his wife Catherine, Louis Granger, and Roy Granger; Sheridan and Grant Butler; and great grandchildren Lillie and Anna Granger. The family would like to thank University Medical Center Brackenridge for the loving care provided to Roy, particularly Jesus Garza, Chris Attal, Mark Jatzlau RN, Adel Austin RN, Andrea Thomas RN, Justin Keith RN, Jana Haney RN, and Leah Schnitman RN. Monsignor Fred Bomar will preside at a memorial service at the LBJ Library Auditorium Thursday November 19th at 2:00 PM In lieu of flowers the family asks that you make a contribution to the Austin Crime Commission or a charity of your choice.