John Charles Butler

John Charles Butler 1944–2025

John Charles Butler, 81, cherished brother, uncle, and son, died November 11, 2025, in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Johnny was born July 13, 1944, in Monahans, TX, to Lewell and Lucille Butler. The family moved to Mesilla Park, NM,

in 1950. After participating in activities such as chess club and yearbook staff at Las Cruces High School, he graduated a year early and followed older brother David (“Skip”) to

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, finishing with a master’s degree in chemical engineering in 1967. During his time in Boston, he joined Skip as a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and stayed connected to SAE alumni throughout his life, attending reunions in Santa Fe and San Diego, among others.

After college, John went to work for Dow chemical in Midland, MI, where he spent five years before moving on to Calgon in Pittsburgh, PA, and later to venerable petrochemical engineering company C.F. Braun, which too him to Pasadena, CA. John weathered multiple iterations—too many mergers and acquisitions to count—of the company, ending his career in Houston, TX, having worked for M.W. Kellogg, Fluor Daniel, and Black & Veatch.

At Braun, John met Chris Wallsgrove, a process engineer, who would become a close friend and professional collaborator. Together, they developed a four-day short course on how to start up a process plant, which they taught worldwide for more than 35 years through the Center for Professional Advancement.

He is a past chairman of the Fuels and Petrochemicals Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and organized programming, chaired symposia, and presented papers on start-up, training, and technical subjects at several local and national meetings of AIChE and other prestigious technical groups.

Over the course of his decades of experience managing the design and operation of process plants from concept development to hands-on start-up and troubleshooting, John has been responsible for a number of technology-driven, world-scale hydrocarbon processing projects from beginning to successful start-up. Severa of these projects set records for minimum time from raw material to spec product, then went on to achieve exceptional time in the initial production run.

In California in the early 1990s, John took up sailing and became part owner—later sole owner—of a 37-foot Express-class racing yacht, the Millennium Express (affectionately known as “Millie”). John was a member of the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and competed in weekly races, such as Wet Wednesdays, and annual regattas, such as Long Beach Race Week and the Catalina Island series, earning numerous top finishes and taking home trophies.

When John moved to Houston, Millie came along, and John enjoyed several more years of competitive racing as a member of Lakewood Yacht Club, including the annual Harvest Moon Regatta from the yacht club to Port Aransas, TX. In recent years, John was an active member of the race committee overseeing the Wednesday night races on Clear Lake and was a beloved, albeit occasionally contentious, part of the sailing community.

In the past 18 months, health challenges necessitated a change, and John moved to the Oklahoma City area to live with his youngest niece and her family. He spent his last months surrounded by young voices and chaotic pets and all the love we could send his way.

John was preceded in death by his parents and younger sister Cleda. He is survived by his brother Skip and sister Betty, three nieces, three nephews, and a bevy of grandnieces and -nephews.