Bishop Butler

Bishop Louis Butler
Pueblo Ward Bishop

In September 1963 I was sustained as the bishop of the Pueblo Ward with Paul Davis as 1st Counselor and John Ray as 2nd Counselor. The next week on September 8, I was ordained a Bishop by Howard W. Hunter.

Newspaper article
September 7, 1963

Front cover of Christmas card sent by Bishopric
President David O. McKay and his wife, Emma

Inside of Christmas card - signed by Bishopric
note signature of Jesse L. Butler (Ward Clerk) - Lou's father

Fred and Janis Garner - Bishop Butler
July 28, 1965
First wedding performed as a Bishop

Sarah and William Kimball

Sarah Isabel Hatherley and William Henry Kimball
Lou's great-great grandparents in his father's family
about 1913

William Kimball, Jr. was born on Saturday, April 8, 1837 in Bedford, Cuyhoga County, Ohio. He moved with his parents, Amanda Westbrook and William Kimball, Sr., to Kalamzaoo County, Michigan when he was about six years old. In 1853 he moved to Newaygo, Michigan where he worked in the lumbering trade.

Sarah Isabel Hatherley was born April 12, 1839 in Brooksdale, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada. She was the daughter of John E. Hatherley and Matilda Pringle.

On Sunday, September 14, 1856 Sarah and William were married by Theodore Wilson, a Justice of the Peace, and the witnesses included William Kimball, Sr. and Jacob Jennings.

In the 1860 census, William appears with his brother, George as living in Newaygo, Michigan, while his wife and two children are listed as living with William Kimball Sr. William, Jr. apparently worked away from home, and probably visited his family when he had the time, since it wasn't too far away.

During the Civil War, William was a part of Company A, 13th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, entering service on September 20, 1864. His unit was part of a Brigade which apparently joined Sherman's Army at Kingston, Georgia on Novermber 7, 1864. Following his discharge on June 18, 1865, William returned home and resumed his occupation in lumbering.

In the 1870 census (Brooks Township, Michigan) his occupation is listed as a farmer, with real estate valued at $500 and personal property valued at $300. He was a candidate for sheriff of Newaygo County, Michigan in the election of November 1880, but lost badly! The results show Elisha Panghorn - 1810 votes, John W. Hay - 1488 votes, and William Kimball - 56 votes. However, in the election of April 3, 1882 he ran for Sheriff again and won. Those results are recorded as William Kimball - 1524 votes, William Hall - 1358 votes, and James Sharp - 134 votes.

William Kimball and his daughters - circa 1900
front row: Alice Herren - William Kimball
back row: Ruey Hewitt - Jennie Matheson

In 1914 William and Sarah sold their house in White Cloud, Michigan to James Wright and moved to Ladysmith, Wisconsin to live with their daughter, Ruey Hewitt.

Sarah passed away on July 31, 1919. William died on Monday, December 1, 1924 and was buried on Friday afternoon, December 5, 1924 in Prospect Hill Cemetery - White Cloud, Michigan. The service was officiated by Reverend Harry Walker.

William is said to have loved hunting. He (along with others?) killed four bears one evening after supper!


A short, but detailed history of William Kimball was recorded in Dad's genealogy pages, and I have only posted a portion of it here. Because of the details included there (dates, Civil War service, locations, etc.) I am certain he got the information from a published source. I have not determined that source, but I am looking. If you have information, please leave a comment.

Sarah and William Kimball Family Group Sheet

This is the family group information for Lou's great-great-grandparents through the Butler line. The first child in this family, Martha Amanda Kimball, is Lou's great-grandmother.

Jesse Llewellyn Butler Pedigree Chart

Our family members are increasing! This pedigree chart starts with Lou's father, Jesse Llewellyn Butler and goes back 4 generations.

The "A " Team

One of Lou's greatest passions was basketball. Although he didn't play on a high school team, he developed a love for the sport in his teenage years and was still playing backyard pick up games with his grandsons into his 70's - he usually let the grandsons win! He played on the college team after getting out of the Navy, and then all through his working years he loved to play with other principals and teachers. I've heard those Thursday night games could get a little intense! One of his dreams was to slam dunk a basketball, and he fulfilled that dream in the Bessemer Elementary School gym. So it was just natural that as soon as he got to his duty station at Adak, he was playing ball in his free time.

Adak Basketball Team
Lou Butler - 5th from left

It was not very long after we arrived until we began to go to the Airbase, which was about a 20 minute walk, where we could play basketball. We had a lot of fun together playing basketball. Stan Friedman from New York, Cy Emerling from Wisconsin, and I were the constant ones who played; the others were “maybes.” If we were playing in the bigger league down at Navy Town, we would have to try to get our motor pool to provide a truck to take us down. We didn’t have a bus, but used a covered truck when we could get them to haul us down. It was about 15 miles from our radio station on Clam Lagoon.

Lou Butler - #5
back row, far left

We often played basketball between the day shift and the graveyard shift and any other time that we were off if we could get the gym. We entered every league we could get into around the island. If we had 7 or 8 guys we could often get a jeep or truck to go to the games.

Our very own basketball star
1944-45

A Shot in the Foot

In 1934 I was spending the summer on the sheep ranch at Haswell with Grandpa and Grandma Davis. Uncle Johnny, my mother's brother, lived next door to them and worked the ranch with Grandpa Davis.

Elma Louis Brandon and John Arnold Davis
married June 20, 1926

Hubert - Elda - Herbert
early 1940's

Children of John and Elma Davis

The John and Elma Davis family
about 1950

One day Uncle Johnny, his twin sons Hubert and Herbert, and I were going out to take some groceries to one of the sheep camps. When tending camps we always had guns in the car or truck in order to shoot coyotes, rabbits, or snakes. This time we had a twenty-two rifle in the car - a 1932 Ford 4-door sedan.

1932 Ford 4-door sedan
at a car show - not Uncle Johnny's

The twins [about 2 1/2 years old] were riding in the front seat with Uncle Johnny, and I was riding in the back seat holding the gun, ready to shoot a rabbit when we would see one. All at once we hit a big bump on the prairie and we flew up in the air. When we came down the rifle fired down toward the floor. The bullet went through my shoe and grazed my big toe, but luckily, it did not hit the bone.

Uncle Johnny says my sock was off before my shoe hit the floor! There was a neat hole along side of my big toe! We never did figure where the bullet went out of the old Ford, but I guess it just went on through the floor of the car.

I got some instructions about keeping the gun on safety until I was ready to shoot, and for years I heard a lot about “shooting myself in the foot.”

Friday Night Lights - PJC Style

After his discharge from the service, Lou enrolled in Pueblo Junior College and started classes in January of 1946. He played on the basketball team that season, and then added another sport to his resume when he joined the football team in the fall of that same year. These pictures show that Dad was not a big guy, only about the size of his son Don - and nobody would ever mistake Don for a football player! But as we read in his account that follows, he played well and loved the sport.

#30 - Pueblo Junior College Football Team
Fall of 1946 and 1947

I went out for football that fall [1946], and played left end. In those days we played both offense and defense (and had no protection for the nose or face on our helmets!). Since Coach Simmons only used football as the place to get his basketball team in shape, most of the coaching was done by other players who had high school experience. In my case, it was Bob Butler (no relation to me) who had been an All Conference End at Pueblo Central High School before the war.



Bob took over the job of helping me to know the position, which was his position too. So I was second or third in line from the start. However, during the first few practices he was hurt and from then on just helped to coach, and I got the opportunity to be the starter most of the time. The greatest confidence builder for me was in our first game. I was able to take out the interference with a successful rolling block which enabled the line backer to make the tackle. I heard Bob Butler yell to Coach Simmons, “See that! You don’t have to worry about that end position!”


I had a very successful season, missing only one game in Grand Junction against Mesa Junior College as I didn’t want to be out of town when Lou, Jr. was born.

November 1946 marked the end of the football season. I had reluctantly played football, and had really done it only to satisfy the basketball coach, who wanted me to be rougher on the basketball floor. To my surprise, at my soaking wet 130 pounds, I played, never got hurt and loved the game. I started most of the season and lettered. I ended up enjoying it as much as basketball, almost.

The All - American Couple

I had a fairly successful football season again [in 1947] and was lucky enough to never get hurt even though I played both offense and defense on the starting team. We only lost one game, and that was to Trinidad Jr. College.

Lou's greatest fan!