J. Richard Butcher's Obituary
J. Richard Butcher was born March 8, 1931 in Little Rock, WA. He passed away on May 17, 2020 from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at his home in Alma, MI, with his family at his side.
When he was 3 months old, he and his mother moved from Washington to Michigan, where he lived out his life. Richard married his bride, Carol, on September 13, 1952, and they were married for 67 years. He carried her senior picture in his wallet for their entire married life. Richard served in the army during the Korean War; he was a farmer for many years; and he and Carol owned a toy tractor and doll store in Wheeler. In 2008, Richard and Carol started a food pantry in Gratiot County that is currently serving about 80 families per month.
Richard loved buying and selling anything, but he specialized in restoring classic cars to show in local car shows and to resell. He always had morning and evening worship with the family, and even his dogs knew that it was worship time and would lie down quietly until worship was over.
Richard was preceded in death by his parents: William and Myrtle (Blowers) Butcher; two brothers, Jack and Rocky Butcher; and one sister, Wilma Tesser. He is survived by his wife, Carol; his children, Jim (Janelle) Butcher and Michelle (Dewey McAllister) Cicerello; his brothers, Garry (Nancy) Butcher and Larry (Marilyn) Butcher; his sister, Jeanette (Gary) Studebaker; his granddaughter, Jessica Concepcion; his step grandchildren, Jeff Savin and Cheryl Booth; 7 step great-grandchildren; 9 step great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In leu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to the Ithaca Seventh-day Adventist food pantry.
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