Maxine Butler

Mrs. Maxine Butler, age 96 of Missouri, formerly of Fayette, passed away Monday, July 22, 2019 in Missouri.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, July 28, 2019 at 3-P.M. from Nelson Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Fayette City Cemetery. The family will receive friends Sunday from 2-3 P.M. at the funeral home.

Maxine Hill Butler, recently of O’Fallon Missouri passed away on July 22, 2019 at age 96. She
was born Phyllis Maxine Hill on September 25, 1922, the only child of William Thomas Hill and
Nona Mae (Waldrep) Hill. Maxine’s childhood years spanned the depths of the depression and
taught her the values of thrift, frugality, family and community. She attended high school in the
small town of Notasulga in Macon County, Alabama. In the fall of 1940, she became the first of
her family to attend college at the nearby Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn
University. There, she met and fell in love with Jack Scott Butler of Fayette Alabama. They
married in Auburn on December 21, 1941, two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Jack was in ROTC and entered the army as a second lieutenant in May of 1942 as the US geared
up for the epic struggle of WWII. Jack fought in and (barely) survived the war while Maxine,
now with an infant to care for, returned to Auburn to continue the pursuit of the academic degree
that she had promised her parents. She graduated in 1946 and later continued her education
earning a Master’s degree in Home Economic Science and a AA Certification in Education at the
University of Alabama. In 1954 she began teaching high school, first at Hubbertville High in
Hubbertville, Alabama for two years and later at Fayette County High School in Fayette,
Alabama for 28 years.
Jack and Maxine were members of Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Fayette. Maxine
served as Methodist Youth Fellowship Adviser, Sunday School Teacher, Dean of the Church
Bible School, and other positions at various times during the six decades that she was able to
attend and participate in church activities. Maxine preserved English pink roses that her father
had grafted onto native root stock and used them to supply Bethlehem and the Fayette Nursing
Home with flowers for many years. The family hopes that if you knew Maxine and her roses
you may remember her fondly when you see a similar rose bouquet.
In 1989 Maxine was chosen as Alabama Merit Mother of the year by the Alabama Association of
American Mothers, Inc., part of American Mothers, Inc. (www.americanmothers.org) whose
goal is “to strengthen the moral and spiritual foundations of the family and the home”. A long
and lovely article about her selection appeared in the Tuscaloosa News, on Sunday May 14. The
article was accurate in most details but transmuted her last name to “Baxter”.
Maxine was preceded in death by her husband of nearly 60 years, Jack Scott Butler Sr. (1918-
2001). She is survived by three sons, William Hill Butler (Jamie), Jack Scott Butler Jr. (Karen),
and Thomas Albert Butler (Dianne) and by six grandchildren, William Stephen Butler (Sheila),
Susanna Frances Herrmann (Robert), Jeffery Scott Butler (Heather), Emily Butler Barnes
(Kelly), Stephanie Leigh Whittaker (Kylen), and Melissa Elanor Burdick (Max) and by eleven
great grandchildren.
Over the last several years, Alzheimer’s disease slowly robbed Maxine of her memories, but she
never lost her social graces. She would want to thank all who remember her life and its gifts to
her family, church and community. The family suggests that memorial contributions in lieu of
flowers be sent to Bethlehem United Methodist Church, 378 Bethlehem Circle, Fayette, AL
35555 or to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (alzfdn.org)

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