Shirley A. (Myers) Butz

Shirley A. (Myers) Butz, 78, of Lancaster, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 16, 2015, with her loving daughter, Susan, at her side at Lancaster General Hospital.  She was preceded in death by her husband, John V. Butz, with whom she shared 48 years of marriage.

Born in Oxford, PA on July 10, 1936, she was the daughter of the late Landis and Florence N. (Turner) Myers.  She moved to Marietta, PA when she was two years old, and enjoyed growing up there throughout her childhood and teenage years.  She always said she was a “Marietta girl” at heart.

She graduated from Marietta High School in 1954, and attended Millersville State Teachers College on a SICO scholarship.  As a freshman, she played on the varsity field hockey team, of which she was especially proud.  She graduated from Millersville with a B.S. in Elementary Education in 1957.  After graduation she taught first grade at James Buchanan Elementary School in Lancaster Township for a few years.  She then had the exciting opportunity to teach for a year in San Diego, CA at an elementary school in Mission Beach with a close friend.  Her time in San Diego was cut short by her father’s death, for which she returned home.  She remained in Lancaster, and taught first and second grade at Landisville Elementary School in the Hempfield School District, until the birth of her only child, Susan.  Two years later, she returned to teaching, as one of the original teachers at the then newly opened Centerville Elementary School in the Hempfield School District in 1970.   She was a third grade teacher there for the duration of her teaching career until her retirement in 1992.  Throughout her life, she shared her gift as a teacher, with her own daughter and two grandchildren, as a Sunday School teacher, and to the countless students who fondly remember her as ‘Mrs. Butz’.  In her retirement, she enjoyed working as a hostess at Isaac’s at Greenfield for a few short years.

Shirley was a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster, and formerly a member of the Marietta United Methodist Church.  She was also a former member of the Columbia BPW, and the Mount Joy Chapter of the Eastern Star.

Shirley was a kind and generous person, who had a gift of being able to relate to people as a confidante and friend.  She had an inner strength upon which many loved ones relied. She enjoyed reading, counted cross-stitch, gardening, vacationing at Stone Harbor, NJ, and most of all, spending time with her beloved grandchildren.  A loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, teacher, mentor, and friend, she made everyone in her life feel important and special with her simple, sweet, and gentle nature.

She will be dearly missed by her daughter, Susan, wife of Mark A. McCullough of Landisville, PA; her two adoring grandchildren, Sarah Elisabeth and Matthew John McCullough; sister, Naomi R. Myers, Lititz, PA;  sister, Mary Miller and husband Don of Columbia, PA;  brother, James L., of Florida, and many nieces and nephews.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend a Funeral Service at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 31 S. Duke St., Lancaster, PA on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 11:00 AM in the sanctuary with Deacon Augustus G. Mauro officiating.  A Viewing will be held in the library of the Fisher Parish House from 10:00 AM until the time of service.  Interment will be held at Riverview Burial Park, Lancaster, PA.

Memorial contributions may be made in Shirley’s memory to the Hempfield Foundation, 200 Church Street, Landisville, PA  17538.  Arrangements have been entrusted to the former Richard A. Sheetz Funeral Home, 2024 Marietta Avenue, Lancaster, PA.