Dr. John Edward Butler Sr., MD, was born in Toms River New Jersey on January 2, 1945, to schoolteacher Catherine Theresa Schwarz Butler and soldier John Brown Butler. He received his bachelor’s degree at Saint Peter’s College in Jersey City, then attended the University of Vermont School of Medicine, where he met and married Dr Adrienne Buuck Butler in 1970. Upon attaining their medical degrees, both joined the United States Army Medical Corps and moved to San Antonio, Texas, serving at Fort Sam Houston. John completed residency in general surgery. Later they served at Fort Campbell in Tennessee, briefly living in nearby Hopkinsville, Kentucky, then completed 12 years of active duty at William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, after which they were both honorably discharged at the rank of lieutenant colonel and having born three children.
In 1982, both moved to Waycross, Georgia where they began their private medical practices and became parishoners at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church. Dr.John Butler partnered with Dr. Daniel Terry and operated in private practice through the mid-2000s, specializing in general, vascular and thoracic surgery. Dr. Butler worked extensively at Memorial Hospital, later Satilla Regional Medical Center, serving also as County Medical Examiner for a time. Around 1990 Dr. Butler joined the United States Army Reserve at the rank of full colonel and served tours of duty in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, commanding the 345th Combat Support Hospital in Kuwait and later Iraq. After returning he continued to serve in the Army Reserve at the 3297th U.S. Army Hospital in Fort Gordon near Augusta, and was honorably discharged, declining consideration for promotion to brigadier general. After retiring from surgery, Butler served several years as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Satilla Regional Medical Center. After the death of his beloved wife Adrienne April 29, 2019, and 48 years, four months and two days of marriage, Dr. Butler remained in Blackshear into 2020, finally moving to Buffalo, New York to live close to his daughter Dr. Carole Butler Rudra and her family.
In his somehow copious spare time, Dr. Butler enjoyed carving birds, creatures and other figures in wood, traveling far and wide for walking tours with his beloved wife Adrienne, cycling around Ware and Pierce County with a group of fellow cyclists, blowing hurled clay pigeons out of the sky and smoking moderately superior cigars, though never extravagant. He served for several years on the finance committee at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and volunteered at the Blackshear Food Pantry.
In his final years in Buffalo, despite declining health and balance problems, he consistently shot full 25-round boxes of shells, hitting every clay pigeon, right up to the very end. His favorite prayer was The Serenity Prayer.
He died Sunday morning, September 7, 2025.
Survivors include his son, John Edward Butler Jr., daughter Dr Carole Butler Rudra, son Michael Ryan Butler, daughter-in-law Stephanie Patton Butler, son-in-law Dr. Atri Rudra, granddaughter Emma Butler, grandson Akash Rudra, granddaughter Kiran Rudra, and cat Stogie.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday September 27 from the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 2011 Darling Avenue, Waycross.
The family requests in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Médicins sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders.
Family Placed
Obituary
