Paul Butler
Paul Butler with family, Palm Beach by Slim Aarons
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born(1892-06-23)June 23, 1892
Chicago, Illinois
DiedJune 24th, 1981 age 89
Oak Brook
EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Occupation(s)Heir and businessman
SpouseSarah Anne Josephine Rooney
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportPolo
Achievements and titles
National finals6

Paul Butler (1892–1981) was an American heir, businessman and polo player.[1][2][3][4]

Biography

Early life

Paul Butler was born on June 23, 1892, in Chicago, Illinois.[2] His family arrived in Massachusetts from England in 1637.[5] His grandfather, Julius Butler, was the founder of the Butler Paper Company in Chicago in 1841.[2][4] He also had a brother named Julius.[2] He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[2] He served as a Lieutenant during the First World War.[2]

Business

He served as President of his family business, the Butler Paper Company, from 1930 to 1965.[2] By then, the company had diversified in paper, real estate and development.[2] From 1960 to 1965, he served as President of the Nekoosa-Edwards Paper Company.[2] He was a founder of Oak Brook, Illinois, including the Bank of Oak Brook and the Oak Brook Public Utilities Company.[2] He also founded the Butler National Golf Club.[2] In 1945, he founded the Butler Aviation Corporation, the largest general aviation company in the United States.[2]

In 1951 he was named head of the Defense Air Transportation Administration, a then newly formed government agency to coordinate aviation facilities and equipment for defense.[6]

He was a member of the General Society of Colonial Wars, the Chicago Historical Society, the Chicago Art Institute and the Chicago Museum of Natural History,[2] and the Bath & Tennis and the Everglades Clubs in Palm Beach.

Polo

He won six U.S. Open Polo Championships and four Butler Handicap titles.[1] He was a top level polo player, with a four-goal handicap.[7]

In 1922, Paul and his father F.O. Butler registered the Oak Brook Polo Club with the United States Polo Association (USPA), making the club the fourth oldest in the United States. He served on the Board of Governors of the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club.[2] He also served on the Board of Governors of the USPA for many years.[1] He was a member of the Meadowbrook Polo Club.[2] When the Meadowbrook Club was taken over by golfers some time after World War II, the Governors of the USPA came to Oak Brook to meet with Paul Butler to ask him to host the U.S.Open at Oak Brook, which by then had 12 polo fields, the 13th having been retired to a horseshow grounds as it was too small for a regulation size polo field, which is 10 acres. Paul and his family agreed to host the U.S. Open, and it was held in Oak Brook for 23 of 25 years between 1954 and 1978. During that time the polo and the entire Oak Brook Sports Corp, as the Butler's Oak Brook land holdings were known, were managed by either by Paul Butler's son Michael or his daughter Jorie. Jorie managed the entire operation from 1968 until the early 1980s.[8]

He was inducted in the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame on March 3, 1995.[1]

Personal life

He was married three times, to Sarah Anne Josephine Rooney,[9] Marjorie Stresenreuter (later Mrs William Dunaway) and Jean Buckley.[2] His children were Michael Butler, a theatrical producer and businessman, who is the father of Adam, also a polo player, and grandfather of Liam; and Frank Osgood Butler II.[2][4] He also had a daughter, Jorie Butler Kent, and Jorie has a daughter, photographer Reute Butler.

Death

Butler was killed on June 24, 1981, one day after his 89th birthday, when he was struck by a car in front of his home in Oak Brook.[10] Butler had walked out in front of his home at 1000 Oak Brook Road, at dusk, possibly to take photographs, when he was hit by a driver. At the time, his net worth was estimated at "between $50 million and $125 million".[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame, Paul Butler's biography". Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Alex Webbe, Paul Butler Was a Pioneer of Polo, Palm Beach Daily News, June 28, 1981
  3. ↑ Bess Winakor, The Butlers: Old Family Traces Roots From Colonies to PB Polo, Palm Beach Daily News, January 2, 1983
  4. 1 2 3 Bruce Buursma, Michael Butler: From Polo Field To Chapter 11, The Chicago Tribune, September 26, 1990
  5. ↑ Michael Gross, Mayflower madness: America’s WASP ruling class loves to embellish origins, New York Post, November 18, 2023
  6. ↑ Butler Named to New Air Post, The New York Times, November 24, 1951
  7. ↑ Hugh McIlvanney, Revival of an Old Rock Festival, Sports Illustrated, August 9, 1971
  8. ↑ Daniel O'Leary, Outside The Boards™, Buzzsprout, May 11, 2022
  9. ↑ Who's Who, What's What and Where in Ireland, Zircon Publishing, 1973, p. 45
  10. ↑ "Paul Butler, 89, golf patron", Obituary in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 27, 1981, p8
  11. ↑ Paul Butler Dead at 89; Top Aviation Executive, New York Times, June 26, 1981, pA-17
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