Helen M. Butler, 94, passed away in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on June 17, 2026. Funeral services will begin at 10:00 a.m. Monday, June 22, 2026, at the Strode Funeral Home Chapel, with the Reverend Justin Beadles officiating. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Gardens. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of the arrangements.


Mrs. Butler was born May 3, 1932, at home on a farm SW of Stillwater near Lost Creek, to Bob and Myrtle (Bunney) Friedemann. She started school at Spring Valley, a one room schoolhouse SE of Stillwater and during second grade the family moved to a farm near Glencoe where she attended until her junior year when the family moved to Perkins. Mrs. Butler graduated with honors from Perkins High School in 1950. There, she met the love of her life, Doyle Butler, getting married on June 10, 1950, at Salem Lutheran Church in Stillwater, and remained married for 65 years until Doyle's death in 2015.


The couple made their home in Payne County for most of their early marriage where Doyle was a building contractor. While the family lived in Stillwater, Mrs. Butler worked several years at Katz Department Store. Also, the family lived two years in Okmulgee when her children were teenagers. In 1970, Mrs. Butler and her three children accompanied her husband to Bangkok, Thailand, where he was on assignment with Oklahoma State University. Upon the family's return to the U.S., the Butler's returned to Stillwater until 1974, when she and her husband moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where Doyle took a faculty position with Idaho State University and a year later the couple moved to Pryor, Oklahoma, for Doyle to become head of a vocational high school.


In 1977, Helen and Doyle moved to College Station, Texas, where Texas A&M University employed both for the next 14 years. Mrs. Butler was the Senior Secretary for the Soil and Crop Sciences Department until her retirement in 1989. That same year, the couple moved to Ankara, Turkey, where Dr. Butler was a consultant with the G.E. Educational Division. Upon their return to the U.S., they made their home in Norman, Oklahoma, where Mrs. Butler worked as a secretary for the City of Norman's Street Department.


In 2004, they moved back home to Stillwater to be near their daughter, Beverly. In addition to Thailand and Turkey, Mrs. Butler was fortunate to travel to several other countries as well as much of the U.S. She enjoyed spending time with her family, reading, crocheting, and doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, and though she worked in the public for 38 years she often said her most rewarding job was as a wife and mother. Mrs. Butler was a member of First United Methodist Church in Stillwater.


She was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, her parents, sister, Doris and a granddaughter, Lauren Fagan.


Survivors include her sons, the Honorable Robert Butler and his wife Cherie, of Saint Charles, Missouri; Dr. Terry Butler, and his wife, Dr. Sabrina Butler, Ouray, Colorado; daughter, Mrs. Beverly Fagan, and her husband, Rick, Stillwater; sister, Judy Gray, Stillwater; 7 grandchildren; and 16 great grandchildren.


Memorial contributions may be made in her name to Stillwater Medical Center Karman Legacy Hospice or the charity of your choice.