Obituary of Col. Jack Normand Butts USAF

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Jack Normand Butts, 90, died at his Annandale, Virginia home on December 15, 2013. Jack was born in Wilson, Oklahoma on April 12, 1923 to Lena Alma and Andrew Jackson Butts. He was their middle child, having an older sister and younger brother. Jack was a very quiet and intellectual boy who excelled in school. He graduated from high school in Hutchinson, Kansas and then won the prestigious Summerfield Scholarship to the University of Kansas, where he graduated with a degree in Engineering Physics. While still a student at he University of Kansas, he joined the Army Air Corps reserve in 1942. this was a good fit for him and he stayed with the United States Air Force for the next 30 years. During WWII, he flew the B-26 Martin Marauder and then completed training as an attack bomber. After the war, he served in the Pacific Theatre and then spent four years as a nuclear officer in an atomic weapons unit. Following this service, he entered into the B-47 program which he flew from an operating base in Morocco. Career progression took him to Air Command and Staff College and the B-52 program. He logged over 4,500 hours of flying B-52s in many venues. His times of flying the B-52 were some of his fondest memories and made for some of his best stories. Another career progression took him out of the cockpit and to the Air War College, followed by a year at a command post in Thailand during Vietnam War. After this, he could no longer avoid Pentagon duty and was assigned to the Strategic Division of the Air Staff Operations Directorate. Promotion to full Colonel landed him into the Air Force Command Post as AF Duty Officer, followed by two years in the National Military Command Center as deputy to the duty general. He retired in 1969. After retirement, Jack’s favorite hobbies were deep-sea fishing, snorkel diving, listening to classical music, watching sports, and daily workouts at the Pentagon gym. He also completed most of a fascinating book that was a collection of vignettes about his military experience. Jack was a beautiful writer with a gift for detail and description. He is survived by his brother Orville Ray Butts (Joyce), a nephew, Michael Butts (Lily), and a niece, Konnie Butts, all of Portland, Oregon; and by two nieces, Cindy Burke of Inman, Kansas, and Mary McFarland of Hutchinson, Kansas. His family will greatly miss his gentleness, knowledge, and generosity. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Maxine McFarland. A memorial service will be held at Advent Funeral Services, 7211 Lee Highway, Falls Church, Va on Thursday, December 19, 2013 at 11:00am. Burial will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery in Hutchinson, Kansas. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to Capital Caring Hospice, 950 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 500, Arlington,. Va 22203.