Mrs. VIVIAN BUTLER PASSES, the mother of Mrs. Ann Burrows

A crowd gathered at 3pm, Sun., July 7, at Holmes Memorial Church, Greenville, SC, for the funeral of Mrs. Vivian Colleen Jamerson Butler (July 30, 1937 - July 4, 2024), wife for 66 years to William “Bill” Butler. A Holmes Bible College and Southern Wesleyan Univ. graduate, she was a members of Holmes Memorial Church. She is survived by: her husband; sons Charles (Janet), David, and Stephen (Melinda); daughters Donna Auwarter (Don) and Ann Burrows (Rev. Raymond); 9 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; sister, Pansy Proffitt; and beloved nieces and nephews.

  Pastor Chris Thompson, of the church, said Mrs. Butler desired that all her family “live together forever and ever.” He told of her daily devotional book, “Youthful Nuggets and Adult Gems.” The Huff Family sang “Jesus Led Me All the Way.” The Butler children spoke in birth order: 

  

Charles: “Mom had a way of connecting people… made people feel loved and embraced. Mom wanted everyone to know God loved them.” He quoted words to “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder, I’ll Be There” and said, “Mom, your work on earth is done… you are there.”

  

(David, handicapped for years, was present but did not formally speak.)

  

Stephen: “I’m the third child; I was the ‘Mama’s Boy’… She loved God’s word. We heard it every single day.” He thought of joining the Peace Corp and talked to his mother about it. That evening, he heard her read, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” (Ps. 32:8). He didn’t join the Peace Corp. A girl he admired was about to graduate from Holmes Bible College. She lived 8 hours away, and he might never see her again. He was hesitant to ask her for a church/school outing. His mother told Ann to tell Melinda at prayer meeting that “Stephen had something to ask her.” Stephen and Melinda married, served as missionaries in Russia and Mexico, and have four children. 

  

Donna: She said her mother was a Proverbs 31 woman. Mrs. Butler served as a school lunch lady and school crossing guard. She was “always busy… always strong for us… calling to see about us.” 

  

Ann: “Earlier today, I said, ‘Hey, David… If you were able to get up there and say anything, what would you say?’ And he said, ‘She’s the best lady I know. She’s the nicest lady I know. She’s not dead. She’s alive. She’s in heaven, and I love her.’ Sometimes David will say things, and he makes the most sense of anybody.” 

  

Ann had recurring nightmares when she was young. Her mother quoted Scripture. “One was Psalm 34:7: ‘The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.’ The first Scripture I ever remember… and the nightmares went away… She was my kindergarten teacher… an evangelist to me.” Her mother led Ann to the Lord at age 6. She was Ann’s Sunday School teacher, and later worked to send Ann to Christian school. At Wednesday church, Mrs. Butler “always had a Scripture and a testimony.” She used her books, handing them to people as a missionary. “She also wrote two other devotional books… Every morning, she had a Bible in her lap… Every child of hers is a Bible-believing Christian because of her faithfulness… When we’d hang up on the phone, Mom would not say ‘bye’… always it was ‘I’ll see you.’ She knew there would never be a time we wouldn’t see her again. And so, ‘Mom, not bye — see ya.”

  

“Mrs. Vivian is one of the finest people that ever crossed my path,” Pastor Raymond D. Burrows said. 

  

Ann Burrows and Donna and Don Auwarter sang “What a Day That Will Be,” and Pastor Chris Thompson concluded the funeral, calling Vivian Butler “a special woman of God.”