CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Fergus Anthony “Tony” Butler, 96, died Sunday, Aug. 7, 2011, at home. He was a beloved member of his large extended family and every community of which he was ever a part. Tony was born May 27, 1915, in Boston, the only child of Dr. Fergus Almy Butler and Gladys Crowley Butler.
From the beginning his life was filled with love and zest and always had a great gang of friends. As a teenager, Tony attended Middlesex School and Choate Rosemary Hall, but came down with polio and spent a year recovering and being tutored at home. He then attended Phillips Exeter Academy, class of 1935, where they “treated you like a grown-up,” which was just his style. He then attended Harvard majoring in philosophy and English, class of 1939. He was a member of the Speaker’s Club and the Hasty Pudding Club, which he toured with in the show “Fair Enough.” It was while touring that Tony taught himself “The Train,” a superlative voice and whistle imitation of a train journey through several stops, picking up speed, passing other trains in the night, traveling over rickety bridges and through tunnels. “The Train” became famous among Tony’s family and friends, making an appearance at every family party, wedding reception, and even the Exeter New England Alumni Association annual dinner, where it received a standing ovation. Tony was performing “The Train,” by request, for his visitors the week before his death. He remained actively involved in alumni activities of both Exeter and Harvard and cherished the experiences and friendships he formed for the rest of his life. Tony was drafted into the Army March 31, 1941. He served in Australia in the Counter Intelligence Corps. He was nominated for Officer Candidate School and was commissioned May 23, 1944, and participated in the invasion to retake the Philippines and the occupation of Manila. He remained in contact with Army buddies he met in Australia. Whenever he and his wife visited Australia, they always made a point to visit the friends he had made during the war. Tony read an account of Lt. Col. Ed Ramsey’s part in retaking the Philippines, “Lieutenant Ramsey’s War,” in Reader’s Digest many years later. He was so moved by Lt. Ramsey’s story and heroism that he tracked him down and invited himself for lunch. Tony and Nancy flew from Boston to meet him and they became great friends. Tony even started a fan club, and held a reception in his honor in Cambridge. After World War II, he met Nancy Pyle Kendall, the widow of Vaughn Kendall. Tony and Nancy immediately knew they were right for each other and they married six weeks later. They were inseparable for the next 63 years until Nancy’s death in 2010. Tony and Nancy traveled the world and made friends from Australia to England and Maine to Florida, sharing a genuine curiosity for different cultures and a passion for golf. The couple had no children, but maintained loving relationships with all the children and grandchildren of their large, close-knit extended families. After a brief stint in the family department store, Tony wanted to get into the newspaper business. He and a friend started the Maine Coast Fisherman, now the National Fisherman. He traveled all over the Maine coast selling advertising and collecting stories. That was great fun though not too lucrative, so he joined a consulting firm specializing in time management. Later he started his own company, Cambridge Management Training Inc. Tony’s company was a consulting firm that worked from the bottom up training foremen how to be good leaders “because it is foremen who really run the show”. The company would identify potential efficiencies and cost savings by dealing with front-line supervisors, sitting with them around a circle, and getting their insights for potential improvements. Tony was particularly knowledgeable about finance and made great investment choices, especially in gold and utilities. He kept informed and was always ready to offer suggestions to his family and friends. His most common and often repeated advice was “buy gold!” Tony frequently called presidents of companies as an interested stockholder, no matter how small or large his stake in the business was. For more than 20 years, Tony and Nancy acted as host families for graduate students from other countries who were studying at MIT and Harvard. Tony and Nancy would welcome these young people at the airport, show them the human side of life in Cambridge, Mass., and introduce them to local people and other students. They always brought them into their home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other special occasions. In addition to the Cambridge, Mass., apartment they called home, Tony and Nancy owned a house in Blue Hill. This was the house where his aunt penned her book, “The Little Locksmith.” Tony would point out to visitors the room, the window, and the desk where the book was written, and he was instrumental in the book’s being reissued and made into a play. Tony and Nancy loved the house, the land and the blueberries. Tony particularly loved swimming in the ocean at Blue Hill, and was still swimming there in his 90s. In 2009 they shared their love for the place with the community by granting a conservation easement on their field. The easement conserves a wonderful water view for the town in perpetuity. Tony was incredibly persuasive and enthusiastic. When he set his mind to it he could talk anyone into almost anything. All his life he was full of kindness, enthusiasm, humor and showmanship. He was buddies with nearly everyone with whom he crossed paths and was just as interested in and excited about his friendship with the person working the window in the post office or running a Fortune 500 company. He was the consummate host to the day of his death.
Tony is survived by his double first cousins, Ranie Austin, Ann Peters “Petie” Marvin and Christopher Crowley; by the children and grandchildren of his many cousins and in-laws, and a vast array of friends all over the world.
There will be a graveside service 1 p.m. Aug. 27 at Oakdale Cemetery, Middleton, Mass., with a memorial reception 3 p.m. at Harvard Club, 374 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St., Boston, MA 02114 or Blue Hill Heritage Trust, P.O. Box 222, Blue Hill, ME 04614.