Ann Butler Obituary

Ann Elizabeth Butler, 67, died in her sleep on September 11, 2023, at Junction Creek Health and Rehabilitation Center in Durango Colorado.

Butler was born Nov. 5, 1955, in Cortez, CO, to Thema Kathleen "Kathy" Myers and John "French" McGaughey. He died April 3, 1958, and Kathy later married Charles "Charlie" Ralph Butler. He legally adopted Ann when she was 3. Butler grew up in Durango attending Needham Elementary School and Durango High School, class of 1973. She spent idyllic summers at the Butler cabin on Electra Lake where she learned to sail at age six.

Early on, Butler scored in the genius range of IQ testing, and everyone from teachers to fellow students noted her quick mind and high-level of curiosity which she sustained throughout her life. Her parents encouraged her many intellectual interests. Charlie Butler took her on field trips and taught her skills of observation and record keeping. Kathy exposed Ann to the arts and took her to concerts, art exhibits, and plays. Because Butler excelled at languages, she got a Rotary Exchange Scholarship to Mexico while in high school.

Butler attended and graduated from the University of Denver majoring in Spanish and Latin American Studies with a minor in French. She spent a year in Spain and traveled throughout Europe and then embarked on a Master's program at Phoenix's Thunderbird International School. Her graduate work led to another year abroad in Brazil where she became fluent in Portuguese.

After graduate school, Butler worked briefly in New York City in advertising. Over the next 12 years she worked for Amway in Michigan and Celestial Seasons in Boulder, CO. In the early 1990's, Butler moved back to Durango and with her adoptive father Charlie she began a Spanish educational program titled "Habla." In 1993, her parents were in a serious car accident. As a result, her mother died and Charlie Butler sustained a permanent brain injury, Butler became his principal caregiver until his death in 2004.

During that time, Butler applied for a reporter's job at The Durango Herald. She took on many different assignments, and when local-news columnist Sally Morrissey retired, Butler applied to become the "Neighbors" columnist. Because of her natural warmth and curiosity, able interviewing skills, and fluid writing style, Butler mastered the assignment and sustained an informed communal dialogue until 2017. Butler became well known throughout the community, attending formal and informal events, keeping apace especially with the non-profit world. She developed a wide network of "stringers" who keep her abreast of events. She was not only welcomed but well-loved at birthday celebrations, business announcements, retirements, and memorial services. She was the town's storyteller who remembered details and connections that dated back years, even decades. In 2013, the Durango Arts Center named Butler Sweetheart of the Arts for her contributions to the community as a whole and the arts in particular. Butler's writing for the Herald obituary section was noteworthy. She touched the hearts and lives of thousands of families in their time of grieving. She strove to write accurate yet moving stories of community members and unearthed details that surprised family and friends. Butler's phenomenal memory and well of compassion enabled her to listen for nuggets that could lead to additional insights.

In the writing guidelines she developed for pre-writing one's own obituary and her many workshops, Butler reminded everyone that an obituary is a historical document which descendants and others may use.

"Be clear and be accurate," she would advise. Butler ended a recent presentation by saying: "The best response to reading an obit is to say either: 'Oh, I didn't know that,' or 'I wish I had known her or him.'"

Butler belonged to many local organizations and attended meetings of even more: The Reading Club of Durango, AAUW, Women in Communications, Durango Friends of the Arts, and the Rotary Club of Durango. A long-time member of the Durango branch of the American Association of University Women, she most recently helped AAUW colleagues start a Durango writing group. On March 4, 2022, she gave her by-now famous obituary-writing presentation and encouraged members to "get started."

Butler experienced a number of chronic health challenges in her adult years. In October of 2022, due to complications from diabetes, she survived a lower leg amputation. Always resilient, Butler was determined to return to Durango and continue her recovery in the town she loved. In the spring of 2023, she was moved to Junction Creek Health and Rehabilitation Center. She embarked on another period of recovery, and at the September 1 gathering of her AAUW writer's group, she proudly displayed her new prosthetic device. She vowed to be diligent in therapy in order to return to her own home by early spring. Ten days later Ann Butler died in her sleep, peacefully slipping out of an eventful life and leaving many friends behind.

In addition to her legion of friends, Butler is survived by her cousins Sarah Butler Sumner, Durango, Laura Nass, Denver, Julia Nass, Boulder, Meredith Nass, Durango, Uncle David and Aunt Mary Martha Butler, Minneapolis, MN, nephew Charles Andrew Miller, North Carolina, niece Barbara Ann Malaj (Miller) , Arizona, nephew Robert Miller, California, and numerous other cousins from the Charles Butler family.

A celebration of life will be held at 3:00 p.m. Friday, October 13, at the Summit-United Methodist Church in Durango. Celebrants are encouraged to wear pink, Ann's favorite color.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to any Durango based non-profit.