Funeral services for Douglas “Doug” Elliott Butler, 85, of Purcell will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, January 12, 2024 at Brown’s Funeral Service in Durant, Okla. Interment will be at Highland Cemetery in Durant. Services will be under the direction of Brown’s Funeral Service.
Mr. Butler died on January 4, 2024 at Norman Regional Hospital.
Doug was born January 24, 1938 to Douglas L. Butler and Helen (Craig) Butler in Waynesboro, Va. He had one sister, Patsy.
At the age of one he and his family moved to Charlottesville, Va. After graduating from high school he joined the Navy in August of 1955 at only 17 years old. He attended boot camp and teleman school in Bainbridge, Md. His Navy years took him to Coronado, Calif., Brooklyn, N.Y., Long Beach, Calif.
He served in Korea, Japan and four tours in Vietnam. His last stop in the Navy was in Alameda, Calif., where he met the love of his life, Patricia Nelson. They married in October 1967. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1971.
Pat came from a large family so Doug also said he gained a family when he married her.
They made their home in California where they enjoyed attending Oakland A’s baseball and the Oakland Raiders football games. Doug and Pat loved spending time with their nieces and nephews in California and going camping in the “high country.”
In 1994 they decided to moved to Oklahoma where Pat had more family. Doug loved to hunt and fish with his nieces and nephews in Oklahoma. Another favorite pastime was going to the casino with Pat.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Pat.
Doug is survived by one sister-in-law, Mary Jane Fadely of Senora, Calif., and nieces and nephews, Bobby and Vickie Foraker of Maysville; Ron and Sandy Newby of Marlow, Okla., Diane Hall of Maysville and Phil Foraker of Purcell.
