Roy Butler (American politician)

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Roy Butler
47th Mayor of Austin
In office
1971–1975
Preceded byTravis LaRue
Succeeded byJeffrey Friedman
Personal details
BornMarch 31, 1926
Greenville, Texas, U.S.
DiedNovember 13, 2009(2009-11-13) (aged 83)
Austin, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Residence(s)Austin, Texas
ProfessionBusinessman and politician

Roy Anderson Butler, Sr. (March 31, 1926 – November 13, 2009), was an American politician and businessman who served as the mayor of the capital city of Austin, Texas, from 1971 until 1975.[1]

Butler was the first Austin mayor

directly elected by city voters.[2] Prior to his 1971 election, Austin mayors had been appointed by the Austin City Council.[2]

Personal life

Roy Butler was a native of Greenville, Texas.[2]

homemaker, and his father, an officer in the United States Army.[4]

Butler served in the

automobile business.[2]

He met his future wife, Ann Showers, on a blind date while at the University of Texas. The couple married six months later.

Butler was described as a close friend of former

U. S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.[3][4]

Business career

Outside of city politics, Butler owned and operated several prolific Austin area businesses.[1] He opened his first car dealership at 45th and Lamar in Austin.[2] The business grew to become the Roy Butler Lincoln-Mercury dealership.[2] Butler owned the dealership from 1960 until 1976, during which Butler Lincoln-Mercury became the largest Lincoln dealership in Texas and Oklahoma.[2]

Butler won the rights to the

Coors Beer franchise in Central Texas in 1976, beating out approximately 2,200 other applicants.[2] His Coors beer distributor franchise, now called Capitol Beverage, currently distributes more than forty beer brands throughout four Texas counties, as of 2009 in Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties.[2]

Butler co-founded the local branch of

cell phone provider in Austin.[2] He also owned two Austin area radio stations, KVET and KASE-FM.[1] Under Butler, KVET and KASE-FM expanded into a multi-state radio group, which Butler sold in 1999.[2]

Former Austin Mayor

ad agency, both of which are headquartered in Austin.[2] With the addition of another tenant, Book People, Butler's property became an important site which attracted people to downtown Austin.[2]

Political career

Butler served as a member of the Austin independent school District board for nine years prior to being elected to his first term as mayor in 1971.[1]

Butler unseated Mayor Travis LaRue 65.3 to 15 percent.[5] He was handily re-elected for a second two-year term as mayor in 1973, when he received almost 44,000 votes. This total from 1973 still holds the record for most votes ever cast for any Austin mayoral candidate in history, as of 2019.[1][2][4]

Butler expanded and modernized the Austin Police Department.[4] He also spearheaded efforts to build a nuclear power plant in South Texas and construct the Texas State Highway Loop 1 (MoPac Boulevard) on the west side of Austin.[4] The two proposals brought Butler into political conflict with Austin's environmentalists, who had emerged as a force in the city during the 1960s and 1970s.[4]

During his tenure as mayor, Butler was able to recruit former

polluted with trash and overgrown weeds.[2] KTBC described Town Lake before Butler's efforts as an "eyesore".[2] Efforts by Johnson and Butler transformed Town Lake and the adjoining Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail, into one of the most important recreation areas in Austin.[2][4] Town Lake was renamed Lady Bird Lake
in 2007, and the Hike and Bike Trail was renamed Butler Trail in 2012.

Contrary to some beliefs, Austin's Butler Park is not named for Roy Butler.[6]

Later life

Butler was a strong advocate of law enforcement.[2] On August 28, 2009, the Austin City Council and the Austin Crime Commission renamed a police academy to the Roy Butler Police Training Academy in honor of Butler and his work in support of the police.[1][2]

Roy Butler suffered two broken

critical condition.[1] Butler died from complications of his injuries approximately one week later on November 13, 2009, at the age of 83.[1]

He was survived by his wife of 61 years, Ann,;[1][2] three children, Roy Butler Jr., Edward Butler, and Beth Granger,[2] and his grandchildren: Sheridan Butler, Grant Butler, Charles Granger, Louis Granger, and Roy Granger.

Butler's memorial service was held at the

Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in Austin on November 19, 2009.[2]

Mayor Travis LaRue, whom Butler unseated in 1971, died on Saturday, November 14, 2009, just one day after Butler's passing.[7]

In memoriam

On November 3, 2011, the Austin City Council, in recognition of Roy Butler's civil service and contributions to the community and City of Austin, including the revitalization and improvement of Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake), approved a resolution naming the "hike and bike trail" surrounding Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin as the "Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail."

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Coppola, Sarah (November 13, 2009). "Former Austin mayor Roy Butler dies". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "Former Austin Mayor Roy Butler Has Died". KTBC. November 13, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Service Thursday for ex-Austin Mayor Butler". The Denver Post. Associated Press. November 16, 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2009. [dead link]
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Coppola, Sarah (November 14, 2009). "Roy Butler 1926–2009: Austin remained former mayor's business, Civic, political, philanthropic reach stretched well beyond his years at helm in '70s". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
  5. ^ "Office of the City Clerk – Election History April 3, 1971". Austin Office of the City Clerk. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
  6. ^ Barnes, Michael (November 14, 2009). "Roy Butler remembered". Austin 360. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
  7. News 8 Austin
    . November 16, 2009. Retrieved December 18, 2009.

External links

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