Perry L Butcher

Perry Butcher was born at the tail end of the dustbowl days on January 28th, 1936, in Woodward, Oklahoma to Roy and Evelyn Butcher. He and his younger sister Patty grew up among the wind and the prairie grass. Perry enjoyed the usual sports of young boys, but also studied piano, sang on the radio, and shuffled his feet at a few tap-dancing lessons. In high School, besides playing football, Basketball and track, he raised lambs for FFA, played trumpet in the band, and completed his Eagle Scout Badge. His father had promised him a new car if he didn't take up smoking. So, he started college at OSU with a 1954 light blue Ford Victoria, the beginning of his love affair with cars which continued throughout his lifetime. Perry studied Architecture at OSU and married his high school sweetheart, Marquita Peach. During this time their first three children were born. After graduation, they moved to Little Rock, Ark. for his first job in Architecture, and then moved to Rogers, Ark. in 1963, the place they would call home. Eventually, they had three more children and Perry spent many happy hours coaching ball teams and enjoying being a father with his three daughters and three sons. Settling in Rogers, Perry opened an office with Paul Wilber as his partner. They were together a couple of years when Paul made the decision to study medicine. Eventually Perry and John Mack became friends and partners, forming the Company Perry Butcher and Associates know as PBA located in downtown Rogers. They became an integral part of the community, participating in community basketball, Frisco Days events including the Chili Cook Off, the Great Bank Robbery, and the Great Train Robbery, the Lions Club, and the Christmas Parade. Perry loved to sing in the First Baptist church choir. It was here that he got recruited to play Daddy Warbucks in the play Annie at the Arts Center of the Ozarks. Thus, began a love of acting that played a large role in his life. It was at the theatre that he met Betty Hurst whom he married in 1989. Together, they participated in 15 musicals thru the years where Perry used his talents of singing, dancing, and just being Perry! They made their home in Fayetteville where they had many musical evenings around the piano. Perry and John continued to prosper in PBA. Some of their projects included churches, schools, businesses, and libraries. Eventually they were employed by Wal-Mart and were given projects all over America. Perry brought several Architects from foreign countries to join the firm, including China, Mexico and Yugoslavia. His love for his employees was felt by all who worked for him. He put on three company parties a year, one of them being a family outing in the fall. He also had monthly luncheons which encouraged the showing of talents of his employees and helped to encourage friendships. Perry had a stroke in 2003, which robbed him of the ability to read, write, and speak. It was extremely hard for him to give up his life as he had known it, and his company of 39 years. Eventually he turned to his hobby of collecting model cars, airplanes, soldiers and WWII memorabilia. He also took up painting, which brought him much pleasure. He and Betty have a home in Alexandria, Minnesota where they have spent the last 11 summers enjoying friends and family there. Perry is survived by: his wife Betty, his six children: Cathy Krupka (Jack), Cindy Branscum (Mark), Steve Butcher (Yavonne), Philip Butcher, Julie Davis (Brent), and Perry Ellis Butcher (Janice). Perry also has two stepsons, Cassidy Hurst and Coby Hurst; one step granddaughter Heather Hurst, 22 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild. He will be missed by all who knew him. Funeral services 10 a.m. Monday; February 20, 2017 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 2925 Old Missouri Road, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Interment will follow in the Fairview Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Visitation 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Benton County Funeral Home, 306 N. 4th, Rogers. Memorial contributions may be made to the Arts Center of the Ozarks. Online condolences to www.bentoncountyfuneralhome.com.