Murdock McKinnon Butler Jr.

Murdock McKinnon Butler, Jr, 81, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, February 19, 2023. He was surrounded by family at the time of death. In making his end of life plans, he had asked for a private family funeral which was held on Wednesday, February 22. A Celebration of Life with close friends and relatives will be held at a later date.
Murdock was born and raised on a farm in Bladen County, NC, graduating from Tar Heel High School in 1959. He received his Bachelors degree in chemistry from East Carolina Teachers College in 1963 and Masters degree from East Carolina University in 1968. Between the two degrees he enlisted in the US Army. Often, he spoke fondly of his service time. The Army discovered his advanced education in chemistry and assigned him to Brooke Army Hospital as a Medical Lab Specialist. After his honorable discharge he worked briefly for Allied Chemical Company in Brunswick, GA. He then continued his education at Rice University in Houston, TX, receiving his Doctorate in Organic Chemistry in 1974.
Although he was employed by many different named companies, there were really only two - MW Kellogg and Burroughs-Wellcome. He worked for 15 years with MW Kellogg in Houston, TX designing, building and testing scrubbers for power plants. His work required frequent and prolonged travel. In 1990, he returned to Greenville, NC and found employment at then Burroughs-Wellcome. As the company was bought, sold, and downsized, he retired in 2009. After retirement, MW Kellogg sought him out to consult for them during the start up of several oil refineries in China and Saudi Arabia. Although he missed home and family during his prolonged business trips, he returned refreshed from the challenges of his work and from learning about new people and cultures.
He was a tinkerer and enjoyed and used the many manual skills he learned while growing up on the farm. After retirement his passion became beekeeping, an art he learned from his father when he was 12 years old and had to relearn in modern times. He became very active in the Tar River Beekeepers, a local club within the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association.
While at Rice University, he met his wife of 48 years, Dorothy W Butler. In addition to his wife, he is survived by their three children, Murdock McKinnon Butler, III of Tar Heel, NC, Dr. Martin Joseph Butler of Wilmington, NC, and Josephine Anneliese Butler of Wake Forest, NC, and four grandchildren, Catalina and Valentina Butler of Wilmington, NC, and Ruby and Charles Butler of Tar Heel, NC.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be sent to: Duke Medical Foundation - Prostate Cancer Research.