He is survived by his son, John Butler and John’s wife, his “pal”, Amy Butler, his daughter in law Denise Butler, his grandchildren Shawn and Brandon Butler, Meredith Johnson (Blake), Jennifer Ervin (Andrew) and Trey Poole (Samantha), four great grandsons, his nieces Bonnie McKevitt, Lorraine MacMillan and Louise Slezak and his nephews Tom & Dick Blanchard. Predeceasing him was his wife of 61 years, Eileen, his oldest son Chuck, brother Charles and his sister Eleanor. Don and Eileen knew each other from 1st grade so he is now re-united with her and his other loved ones.
GDDMB served 4 proud, honorable years in the US Navy During WWII as a sea plane gunner. He worked for IBM in Rochester, Minnesota and Raleigh, NC, General Electric and The American Locomotive Co in Schenectady, NY where he was born and raised until moving to the frozen tundra of Minnesota in 1957 until 1965 when the family moved to Raleigh.
A public graveside service will be held at Raleigh Memorial Gardens on Monday, May 24th at 11:00 a.m. with military colors presented. Please dress casually if you plan on attending. It appears that it will be summer weather and he hated formal attire. Golf wear desired.
If anyone would like to make a donation in GDDMB’s memory, please do so to the charity of your choice. One of his choosing would be The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, lls.org, since his son Chuck died from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and his granddaughter Meredith has worked there for 16 years.
Services provided by Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh.
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