Eugene S. Butler

Eugene S. Butler, age 89, died on Monday, March 18, 2024.
Butler was born on Jan. 13, 1935, in Durant, Oklahoma, the only child of C.O. and Ruth Butler, who predecease him. His grade school and high school education was accomplished in Waurika, Oklahoma, where he participated in band, chorus, drama and was a member of the Oklahoma 1951 Class B state championship football team.
Butler received degrees of Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Oklahoma, Master of Sacred Music from Union Theological Seminary (Columbia University) in New York City, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. From 1973 to 1998, he served as Director of Choral Activities at Johnson County Community College, in Overland Park, Kansas. He also served as adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.
Church and choral positions included 10 years at First United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas, and 28 years at Valley View United Methodist Church in Overland Park, Kansas. Butler also served 20 years as conductor of the Johnson County Chorus.
As a composer, he received many honors, including the 1970 Kansas Composer of the Year and the coveted ASCAP Standard Music Award every year since 1972. At his death, he had over 1,000 published compositions with 46 publishing houses as well as numerous unpublished manuscripts. Butler's music has been performed all over the world, and has been translated into numerous languages, including Spanish, Portuguese and Korean. One of the highlights of Butler's career occurred on Nov. 20, 2006, with the performance of his choral-orchestral cantata "Emmanuel" at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Butler also excelled as a music educator, receiving the 1986 Burlington-Northern Excellence in Teaching Award. In 1989, he received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Texas-Austin. Other honors included the 1983 outstanding alumnus from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and a 1986 Distinguished Service Award from Johnson County Community College.
In the spring of 2011, the Miller Nichols Library of the University of Missouri-Kansas City invited Butler to contribute his published and unpublished music manuscripts, memorabilia, and papers to the American Composer Archives of the LaBuddle Special Collections. The materials are available to scholars, researchers and interested parties.
During his career, he conducted and taught in 39 states, 3 Canadian provinces, and in England. After retirement, he became an active member of St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church in Mission, Kansas, where he sang in the choir. Through his music, conducting and teaching, Eugene Butler touched thousands of lives during his lifetime.
Butler married Mary Ann Hargrave in 1955. Over seven decades of marriage, they were avid world travelers, journeying everywhere from Turkey to New Zealand. Their travels often focused on musical experiences and their shared interest in food and visual arts. Favorite destinations included England, Italy and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
After participating in high school football, Butler remained a lifelong fan of the sport, and attended games many Friday nights. He was an avid reader of historical fiction, and was proud of his mixology skills and his ability to make many classic cocktails. In retirement, he embraced his role as a grandfather, and enjoyed playing with his grandsons and taking them to movies.
Mary Ann preceded Gene in death earlier this year.
He is survived by his daughter Lydia Butler and her husband Art Kent of Kansas City, grandsons Nathan Kent of Kansas City, Gage Kent of Savannah, Georgia, and son Grant Butler and his husband Lee Williams of Beaverton, Oregon.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 26, 2024, at St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, 6630 Nall Ave.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Eugene Butler Choral Conducting Scholarship at the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City(https://conservatory.umkc.edu/alumni-and-giving/ways-to-give.html), to Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care (https://www.kchospice.org/donation/), or to the Foundation of St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church (https://www.stmaa.com/give/the-st-michaels-foundation/).