| 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 in 1951. In 1955, while
they lived in El Paso Texas, their first child, Susan was born.
In 1956 the family moved to New York, where the first son, William,
Jr. was born. In 1957, 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 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.
In 1982, Elsie's first grandchild Kimberly Marie
Elder 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 Joseph
was born in Austin, Texas.
Elsie passed away in 1986.
Grandchildren born after she died were: Katie ,
Samantha , Cody , Jessica , Mick and Kenny
. |
