OCCASIONAL BLOG

Jeffrey Butler, 50, of Cross Lanes died November 30, 2009.

He was born September 12, 1959, in Charleston. He was retired from the state of Virginia Mental Health and Retardation as a program director, a 1977 graduate of Charleston High School and a graduate of WVU, of which he was an avid fan and supporter, and a member of Charleston Moose Lodge 1444 and Moose Legion 123.

He is survived by his mother, Betty DeBolt Butler of Cross Lanes; father and his companion, Kenneth Butler and Karen Gray, both of Charleston; and uncle, Raymond DeBolt and his wife, Sharon, of Cross Lanes.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, December 5, at Bartlett-Burdette-Cox Funeral Home with the Rev. Bernard Toppings officiating. Burial will be in Spring Hill Cemetery, Charleston.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home, where there will be a Moose memorial service held at 7 p.m.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.bartlettburdettecox.com.

Bartlett-Burdette-Cox Funeral Home, Charleston, is in charge of the arrangements.


This came as a sudden shock. Jeff had has some health problems, but certainly no one would have thought this would happen. In fact, it still seems surreal. How can he be gone?

Jeff was one of the most intelligent people I've ever known. I always thought he could have worked for the FBI or CIA not only for his razor sharp memory, but because he could be very hard to pin down.

During a pleasant social visit, he would suddenly say, "I've gotta go."
"Where are you going?"
"Down the road."
And despite any and all further kidding, jokes or inquiry, that's all you would get. He had plans to meet a girl or attend another friend's house. He had many friends-all over the valley. Who knows where he was headed.

He was excellent at directions as well. He actually studied maps and could recall directions to all sorts of destinations. I have been in WV since 1972 and I have no doubt Jeff had seen more and knew more of it than I ever will. The same with history: facts, dates, names. He was an encyclopedia.

He was an avid WVU fan. Some might say obsessed. He and three of his buddies wore football helmets to those games. His vintage helmet was dubbed, "The Helmet of Knowledge." That was typical of the mayhem at those games.

Then there was his sense of humor. Not only was he was incredibly funny, but it was humor that was truthful about human nature and it was extremely broad. He could make a room full of grandmas crack up or go with a twisted remark about the torsos he had hidden in his basement.

I keep looking for some mischievous sign from Jeff to let us know that it's ok. It would be just like him to do something like that.

There really will never be another Jeff Butler.