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Longest-serving City Councilor Pat Butler, dead at 63

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Pat Butler, 63, a notable Gallupian, and the friendly face of Butler’s print shop, died  from complications associated with cancer May 20. Pat was born at St. Mary’s Hospital on Jan. 20, 1955, becoming one of a select group of residents who started and finished life in the two city hospitals that served Gallup over those separate years.

Some decades ago, Pat and his brother Barry took over the operation of their parents’ business, Butler’s Office Equipment and Supply, Inc. with Pat as the president. Pat was responsible for printing and production in the business while Barry managed the office supply section. Their mother, Grace, passed in 1991 and her husband, Gerald, in 2000.

Shortly after the move of the company from downtown to what became known as Butler Square in 1988, Pat entered the local political arena, throwing his name and ideas into the ring for the City Councilor seat serving the southern district of Gallup. He kept up this demanding schedule for the next 20 years, working with Mayors Eddie Munoz, George Galanis, John Pena, Harry Mendoza, and Bob Rosebrough.

Pat also served on multiple advisory boards, which suited his personality and passions, which were many and varied. He loved animals and raised goats and horses, using the goats’ milk to make soaps and lotions and the horses for pleasure, some of his other interests were antiques, stained glass, and aviation, with him at the wheel in full control.

His colleagues on the city council remember him as very independent-minded, outspoken, strong willed and opinionated.

“He loved and appreciated Gallup,” said former Mayor Bob Rosebrough. “We were often on different sides of the issues, but he was cordial in his personal relationships and very generous. Pat’s proudest piece of work while on the council was the establishment of the North West New Mexico Regional Solid Waste Authority in Thoreau, but we disagreed on Gallup’s alcohol problem. Pat believed that government should only meddle in business, in this case restricting the sale of alcohol, as a last resort.”

His generosity knew few boundaries. If he could help he went out of his way to do it and he was an ardent supporter of the Gallup Balloon Rally and any other endeavor that would bring visitors to our high desert plateau location.

Previous councilor Charlie Chavez mentioned that he served 14 or his 15 years with Pat. “We agreed on quite a lot of things,” Chavez said, “and disagreed on others.”

Maryann Armijo, who also served on the council with Pat, called him her mentor and often sought him out as a sounding board and advisor, though their relationship was full of ups and downs.

“We argued about storage containers once but when the meeting was over, Pat insisted on walking me to my car,” said the former head of the McKinley County Democratic Party. “He also teased me about acting like a Republican at times.”

There will be no public ceremony or memorial at his request. As an expression of sympathy, the family requests memorial contributions be made to a local charity of their choice, in his name. Pat’s desire was to leave this world without fanfare or other ceremonies associated with death.

By Tom Hartsock

Special to the Gallup Sun