| She
attended public schools and later graduated from Purdue University
in West Lafayette, Indiana. While in West Lafayette, she met
William Abbott Butler, a
handsome Cuban-American from Havana. Bill Butler swept her off
her feet and they were married. While they lived in El Paso
Texas, their first child, Susan was born. The family moved to New
York, where the first son, William, Jr. was born. Then, much
to the delight of Bill's parents who lived in Cuba, the family
settled near Havana Cuba and a second son, Jimmy, was born.
Elsie had three little ones to care for while her husband worked for
General Electric in Havana. Bill and Elsie decided that Cuba
was where they wanted to build their dream home and with the help of
Bill's parents set about the process of finding the perfect lot, the
perfect plans, architects and contractors. Everyone was
delighted with the new home.
When the first shots were of the
Cuban revolution were fired it was hoped at first that order would
be restored, but soon it became evident that Fidel Castro had plans
to turn Cuba into a socialist wasteland that was no place for a new
Cuban-American family. General Electric ordered the Butler
family to New York for its next assignment. The family
left, without the new home or any of its contents, and without even
any compensation for the home or any of its contents or even any
hope of future compensation. Goodbyes were said to Bill's
parents Harold and Ofelia Butler who planned to stay in Cuba, their
retirement home. They didn't see how it could possibly get
much worse and didn't want to give up their beautiful home in La
Sierra.
The next assignment for the Butler
family was Manila Philippines. Elsie as usual was the glue
holding the family together. During this difficult time she
discovered she was expecting her 4th child. At the same time
she realized she had to move the entire family to the other side of
the world, a daunting task, facing many unknowns. After a long
plane trip of over 15 hours spread over about a day of travel, she
discovered she had lost the baby and spent a difficult night in a
Manila hospital while her children had to be left with a strange
babysitter in a strange hotel, a situation which must have terrified
her.
Life in the Philippines after that
was relatively calm after that. The children attended school
at The American School and lived in a house in a neighborhood not
much unlike American homes. Notable exception: Broken glass
was glued to the walls surrounding the houses to prevent thieves
from climbing the walls. One year, Elsie asked for and got a
Camaro with red interior and really enjoyed driving the kids around
town. Called it "sporty".
Sally and Joe, the last two
children to be born into the family were born in the Philippines.
Sally was born in 1962 and Joe in 1965.
In 1967, the Butler family made the
front page of the Manila Herald when their sailboat
road out Typhoon Wilma (Wilmeng) and was beached in Cavite after
a wild night with Elsie, Bill and the three oldest children.
All three children were scared to death.
Read more about the typhoon story.
In the late 1969, the family left
for Caracas, Venezuela, where they lived until about 1981.
Elsie enjoyed entertaining and frequently put together elaborate
parties with bartenders, elaborate menus, and fancy attire. She also
joined the Venezuelan American Association of University Women and
was elected president one year. She did quite a lot of
volunteer work and was frequently out of the house playing bridge or
socializing with her friends. Overall, she seemed to enjoy her
life in Venezuela.
In about 1981 the family moved to
Miami, Florida.
Elsie's first grandchild Kimberly
was born in Santa Clara, California. She was so excited that she was
there before the baby popped.
Lindsey, Elsie's second grandchild,
was born later.
In 1984, Elsie's third grandchild
Daniel was born in Austin, Texas.
Elsie passed away in 1986.
Grandchildren born after she died
were: Katie , Samantha , Cody , Jessica , Mick and Kenny . |
