Laurence Butler Obituary

Laurence Noel Butler
1949 - 2024
Port Charlotte, FL
Laurence Noel Butler died at his home in Port Charlotte, FL, on July 8, 2024. Born in Springfield, MA on November 12, 1949, Larry was the first of four sons of Dorothy (Damm) and Roland Butler. He and his brothers grew up in East Longmeadow, MA, in the home their parents constructed in 1948 on an acre of vacant farmland in the rural eastern edge of that quarry town on the MA-CT border. Prior to extensive suburban infill, those growing-up years were spent on what seemed "the edge of the frontier", the abundant fields, woods, and swamps serving as a vast playground. The Butler family also had strong ties to the Appalachian Mountain Club, and for two decades Larry and his brothers enjoyed hiking, fishing, camping, and canoeing in the Connecticut River Valley and Berkshire Mountains of western MA. Larry maintained his own AMC membership from age sixteen to his death.
Graduating from East Longmeadow High School in 1967, Larry earned a BA degree in political science from Drew University in NJ. During his college years, Larry experienced several life-changing events. In 1969-70, he participated in Wayne State University's Junior Year in Munich Program. Prior to leaving for Germany, he was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes. While living in Germany and attending the University of Munich, Larry became fluent in German, broadened his knowledge and perspective, and made life-long friendships. Before his planned return home in summer 1970, Larry took a trip with friends to Austria's Tyrolean Alps, where he fell 70ft from a cliff while on a hike. A mountain rescue team transported Larry to a regional hospital, where he convalesced from multiple injuries for three months before returning home.
While conducting a political science research project during his final semester at Drew University, Larry became interested in computers – an emerging field in 1971. He studied computer programming at Chubb Institute, then worked in New Jersey as a programmer for ADP and as an instructor at Chubb. In 1977, Larry began working for Nabisco as a programmer, rising to Systems Analyst, before retiring in 2004 as IT Tech Services Manager. He returned to Massachusetts in 2010, to a house near his widowed father still living in the Butler home in East Longmeadow. Following his father's death at age 101, Larry bought a winter home in Florida and traveled seasonally between there and Massachusetts. While in Florida in September 2023, Larry learned that his East Longmeadow house had been lost to fire. He was having that home rebuilt when he died. Throughout his trials and accomplishments, Larry successfully managed his insulin dependence for a remarkable 55 years.
Larry was interested in reading, politics, walks in the woods, boating (kayaks, canoes, sailboats), motorcycles, and financial investing. In 2003 he joined a motorcycle tour of Germany and Austria, making a side trip to the Austrian mountain village of Gramais. There he reminisced with Herr Wolf, at whose Gasthaus Larry and friends had stayed before the fateful accident 33 years previously.
Larry was kind, patient, and generous. He was always willing to listen, and to help others. Larry assumed major responsibility for family care-giving during his parents' later years. He is predeceased by parents Dorothy and Roland Butler, and sister-in-law Jane LaLiberte Butler. Larry is survived by his three brothers Malcolm (Carol Pearson), Kenneth (Suzanne Pelletier), and Douglas (Nancy Butler), nephew Nicholas (Lana Syltie), niece Monica Butler, plus two step-nephews and one step-niece: Andrew (Jenessa) and Erick (Laura) Pearson, Tacye (Edward) Turner. Laurence was a lifelong member of the First Congregational Church in East Longmeadow, where a memorial service will be held at 10:00am on September 27, 2024.