Harrison Gordon Butler III

Harrison Gordon Butler, III, was born June 30, 1943, in Woodward, Oklahoma, and died April 15, 2019, in Norman, Oklahoma.

When he was eleven, his parents moved to Norman, where he began fifth grade at the University of Oklahoma Laboratory School, which he attended until he transferred to Norman High School for the last three years.  He graduated in 1961, and entered the University of Oklahoma as a pre-med student.

He was hired as part of the governor’s mansion security staff during the terms of Governor Henry Bellmon, and when it was time to appoint representatives to the Oklahoma Pavilion of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, Governor Bellmon gave him a high recommendation to represent the State of Oklahoma.

Harrison earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1968.  His Internships and Residencies in Vascular, Trauma, and General Surgery, took him from Kansas City, Missouri, to Phoenix, Arizona, and finally to his own practice in Durango, Colorado.  Among his many other citations and honors, he served as President of the Colorado Medical Association in 1993.

Harrison was preceded in death by his father, Harrison G. Butler II, and by his wife Dorothy Moffatt-Butler in 2006.

He is survived by his mother, Ada Mae Butler, and brother, Brent Butler, of Broken Arrow; by his sister Melinda Butler of Tulsa; by his son, Harrison Gordon Butler IV, of Los Angeles, his daughter, Lacy Jean Butler, and stepdaughters, Amy Nash of Phoenix and Katharine Couch Northington of Norman; and by his grandchildren Zachary and Jacob Nash, Elizabeth Palomar, and Conner Northington; and by his great grandchild, Mateo Palomar.  He is also survived by his longtime friend and loving companion, Karen Couch Wieder, of the home.

He served in the U.S. Army in 1968, and will be interred at the Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego in a military service for which arrangements have not yet been finalized.  A celebration of life will be held Saturday, April 20, at 1:30 PM at the East China Buffet, 13202 S Memorial Drive, Bixby, OK.

Among his many honors, his favorite was The Bronze Bulldog Award, 1978-79, given by the Chief Surgical Residents of Maricopa County General Hospital “In Appreciation of [His] Generous Time and Expert Instruction Given in Vascular Surgery.”

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in his name be made to Disabled American Veterans or to a charity of their choice.