“I remember well being born on a frosty morning, January 23, 1927, at 704 North Garfield in Marion, the first son of two, James William Butler being the other, born of Homer Butler and the former Eva Clarida. The day of my birth fell almost equidistant in point of time between the term my Grandfather, J.H. Clarida, who served as Mayor of Marion and the term my father served as a city commissioner.
I attended the Jefferson, Logan and Washington elementary schools as well as the Marion Township High School. All of those buildings are long since gone, but I do not believe I had anything to do with the demise of any of them. I served in the U.S. Army 971st Counter-intelligence Corps Detachment in Korea before the Korean War commenced. Peace, although a shaky peace, was in affect there when I returned home.
I attended Southern Illinois University for a year before transferring to the University of Illinois where they were kind enough to grant me two academic degrees. Between receiving the bachelor’s degree and receiving my law degree in 1952, Louetta Sanders, from near Pittsburg and employed by Kenneth Sparks at the Bargain Center Store on the Public Square, and I were married in 1951.
I served as Assistant State’s Attorney for Williamson County from 1953 to 1963. In 1963 I was elected Mayor of Marion. The voters of Marion have for some reason seen fit to reelect me every four years since then by varying vote margins. My first term began auspiciously with the shortest city council meeting on record. The brevity of the meeting was induced by the desire of the voting council to transfer authority, and responsibility, to the new commissioners and me immediately, since one of the largest fires in the city’s history was raging in the block on the Square where Distinctive Interiors and Tony’s Steak House now stand (900 Block of the square).
On April 16, 1957, a cataclysmic event ocurred when our daughter, Beth Ann was born to Louetta and me. Neither we nor the world has been the same since. The good people of Glendale Arizona, where she is employed as an elementary school principal are becoming aware of what I mean.
In 1970-71 I served as a delegate from this Legislative District to the Sixth Illinois Constitution Convention held in Springfield. The Convention lasted about ten months. The Constitution hammered out there and approved by the voters of Illinois has now endured almost twenty years. It is a source of some pride to have been involved in helping to formulate what is now the basic law of Illinois.
While I have been Mayor of Marion many great changes have taken place. Most of them have been for the betterment of the City and its people. Most of them I personally can take little or no credit for. Marion is almost twice as large geographically as it was in 1963. Our population is about 40% greater than it was then. We have a larger, stronger, more vibrant business community than ever before which means, ultimately, more jobs, more of everything for our people.
Some of the more significant things that have happened in Marion include the resurgence of the entire community to new heights after the devastating tornado of May 29, 1982; the purchase of the old Orpheum Theater for $11,000 by the city and its conversion into a Cultural and Civic Center; the demolition of the old County Court House on the Public Square and the erection of the Tower in its place; the purchase of the Bracy grocery building on West Main Street and the commencement of the Senior Citizen’s Center, today.
Four decisions have greatly affected my life, only one of which I made. The first one made was when I was born in Marion, Hub of the Universe, to Eva and Homer Butler. The second was made by Louetta Sanders when she accepted me to be her husband. The third was made by Beth Ann when she directed the stork to deliver her to our house. And, the fourth was made by the people of Marion when they elected me Mayor.
The city has a new water treatment plant and a new sewage treatment plant, both of which should serve the city’s needs for years to come. The city is in the process of making the final arrangements for a new 1400 acre city lake.
In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Williamson County Soil Conservation District, the State of Illinois and Williamson County a project to alleviate substantially the city’s flooding problem is well under way. Our greatest achievement has been realized by the completion of the Illinois Centre Mall, which has dwarfed all other commercial endeavors in Southern Illinois.”—Robert Butler, ca 1989
Due to failing health, Butler retired in January 2018 and his term was filled out by Commissioner Anthony Rinella. In the April 2019 elections, Mike Absher was elected mayor and Robert Butler passed away the morning of May 22, 2019, the very day that the new mayor and city commissioners were to be sworn in.
Sam’s Note: In the 20 plus years since this autobiography was written, the city has expanded considerably not only commercially, but in terms of residential areas as well, under Bob Butler’s administration. Although the 1400 acre city lake died in the courts and was never completed the city eventually resolved the water supply issue by tying into the Rend Lake Water District.
Butler graduated from Marion High School in 1944 and ran unsuccessfully for the Illinois House in the 1970’s.
Bob Butler is currently serving his 13th term as Mayor as of this writing in April 2013 and he states that it is his last. At age 86, he is now currently the longest living Mayor in the United States according the Daily Republican.
He has always held an “open door” policy and made himself accessible to the citizens of Marion to “bend his ear”, and although many have thought that some of his decisions were controversial, in the long run, it’s difficult to argue with the results of Marion’s growth.
(Article Extracted from 1989 Sesquicentennial History of Williamson County, photos from the Daily Republican, Sesquicentennial History and Williamson County Court House Dedication Pamphlet)