The merry prankster - In memory of a local legend, Willie Butler (1949 - 2003)
Fabulously complex, fairly impossible, frankly funny, Willie Butler had many aspects to a magnitude that simply popped with brilliance. Sadly this unconventional character died on 29 January from severe head injuries that he sustained after falling while rockclimbing at Ligar Bay, 8km from where he lived in Golden Bay.
He always said he wanted a big funeral, and he got it, complete with rifle and cannon volleys. They were all there - the Wizard, Alf's Imperial Army, Aunt Fanny's Sewing Circle, a veritable who's who of rockclimbers, hundreds of touched youth, community workers, family and friends, musicians, even a couple of punks from Amsterdam - all paying homage to a man who deeply affected their lives. His legacy was obviously huge, but hard to measure by usual standards. He didn't make national headlines, he just made a difference.
Born on 30 Dec 1949, at Cradley in Malvern, England, Willie was the fourth of six siblings who was sent to boarding school at Shebbear College in Devon. His father served as a major in the 5th Rajputna Rifles of the Indian Army. He trained for six years as a psychiatric nurse, met his Kiwi wife-to-be Celia in England, where she was on OE, and in 1973 followed her back to New Zealand. It was the country of his dreams, all the freedom and space to let his personality fly.
Initially he became a high country musterer, with his own dogs, first at Ward then at Lake Coleridge Station. It was at Craigieburn farm near Upper Takaka that the couple settled in 1978 and begin raising their three boys, Jeremy, Chris and Patrick.
Willie’s chaotic organisational skills and quirky humour got him well known in Golden Bay, most graphically as founding member of Aunt Fanny’s Sewing Circle which became the great adversary to the Christchurch-based Alf’s Imperial Army. Their crazy mock street battles, complete with catapulted flour bombs and a tea trolley wheeled in at half time, attracted huge crowds in Takaka as they proclaimed the message, “Make tea not war”.
During his “gelingnite phase”, he blew up everything that frustrated him, including his lawnmower, but behind the antics lay serious concerns - for society and where it was heading. He became chairman of the (now defunct) Golden Bay branch of the Labour Party and worked tirelessly with youth at a grassroots level. Often it was just his conversations in passing that helped make a difference. He exhibited an uncanny ear for anything that needed challenging, revolutionizing or just plain laughing at.
His wacky contributions to the Golden Bay Weekly targeted new agers, fundamentalist Christians, Maori, anyone he thought was worth a provocative prod. In one issue he advertised “Holistic Bayonet Therapy”, in another laid out elaborate plans for a efficiently ventilated solar powered goat house, just an oil drum with both ends cut out, not to mention all the provocative letters bebunking the virgin birth or stating his unalienable right to express his Anglo-Saxon culture.
Under the Challenge Program run through the High School, many a youth pushed boundaries of belay with him on the rockface, and in kayaks or caves. In the process they learnt you could respect a git with grey hair. The Bunker, skate board park, Day Out programme, Boredom Busters, all blossomed under his influence. One Nelson judge recently alluded to his single effectiveness when commenting about the lack of delinquents from Golden Bay.
The family’s move to part of the old farm adjoining Paynes Ford Scenic Reserve came in 1990. He took up rock climbing after being approached by climbers wanting to camp in his paddock after the Reserve was declared no-camping by DOC. The overhanging and sheer limestone crags alongside the Takaka River are now considered one of the best concentrations of bolted, sport climbing routes in the country.
His Hangdog campground will continue to cater specifically for climbers. But he would often proclaim that his three great interests in life were actually, in order, “history, hockey then climbing”. His well read love of tradition showed everywhere, and he carried on his father’s passion for military history. Expressed with gusto, just like his deep love for classical music, old Jerry Garcia records, eccentric clothes, scoring recycled timber.
On the hockey field, it was hair flying, odd socks and stirring words of encouragement from the backline for his Hoiho Yellow Penguins team. One game was never enough for him, he would often join in another on the day just for fun. “Where else can you have just so much fun for free!” he panted out after one game.
His legend lives on in Golden Bay. Deeply loved by all those close to him, he’ll be missed by many, but remembered large as life.
He always said he wanted a big funeral, and he got it, complete with rifle and cannon volleys. They were all there - the Wizard, Alf's Imperial Army, Aunt Fanny's Sewing Circle, a veritable who's who of rockclimbers, hundreds of touched youth, community workers, family and friends, musicians, even a couple of punks from Amsterdam - all paying homage to a man who deeply affected their lives. His legacy was obviously huge, but hard to measure by usual standards. He didn't make national headlines, he just made a difference.
Born on 30 Dec 1949, at Cradley in Malvern, England, Willie was the fourth of six siblings who was sent to boarding school at Shebbear College in Devon. His father served as a major in the 5th Rajputna Rifles of the Indian Army. He trained for six years as a psychiatric nurse, met his Kiwi wife-to-be Celia in England, where she was on OE, and in 1973 followed her back to New Zealand. It was the country of his dreams, all the freedom and space to let his personality fly.
Initially he became a high country musterer, with his own dogs, first at Ward then at Lake Coleridge Station. It was at Craigieburn farm near Upper Takaka that the couple settled in 1978 and begin raising their three boys, Jeremy, Chris and Patrick.
Willie’s chaotic organisational skills and quirky humour got him well known in Golden Bay, most graphically as founding member of Aunt Fanny’s Sewing Circle which became the great adversary to the Christchurch-based Alf’s Imperial Army. Their crazy mock street battles, complete with catapulted flour bombs and a tea trolley wheeled in at half time, attracted huge crowds in Takaka as they proclaimed the message, “Make tea not war”.
During his “gelingnite phase”, he blew up everything that frustrated him, including his lawnmower, but behind the antics lay serious concerns - for society and where it was heading. He became chairman of the (now defunct) Golden Bay branch of the Labour Party and worked tirelessly with youth at a grassroots level. Often it was just his conversations in passing that helped make a difference. He exhibited an uncanny ear for anything that needed challenging, revolutionizing or just plain laughing at.
His wacky contributions to the Golden Bay Weekly targeted new agers, fundamentalist Christians, Maori, anyone he thought was worth a provocative prod. In one issue he advertised “Holistic Bayonet Therapy”, in another laid out elaborate plans for a efficiently ventilated solar powered goat house, just an oil drum with both ends cut out, not to mention all the provocative letters bebunking the virgin birth or stating his unalienable right to express his Anglo-Saxon culture.
Under the Challenge Program run through the High School, many a youth pushed boundaries of belay with him on the rockface, and in kayaks or caves. In the process they learnt you could respect a git with grey hair. The Bunker, skate board park, Day Out programme, Boredom Busters, all blossomed under his influence. One Nelson judge recently alluded to his single effectiveness when commenting about the lack of delinquents from Golden Bay.
The family’s move to part of the old farm adjoining Paynes Ford Scenic Reserve came in 1990. He took up rock climbing after being approached by climbers wanting to camp in his paddock after the Reserve was declared no-camping by DOC. The overhanging and sheer limestone crags alongside the Takaka River are now considered one of the best concentrations of bolted, sport climbing routes in the country.
His Hangdog campground will continue to cater specifically for climbers. But he would often proclaim that his three great interests in life were actually, in order, “history, hockey then climbing”. His well read love of tradition showed everywhere, and he carried on his father’s passion for military history. Expressed with gusto, just like his deep love for classical music, old Jerry Garcia records, eccentric clothes, scoring recycled timber.
On the hockey field, it was hair flying, odd socks and stirring words of encouragement from the backline for his Hoiho Yellow Penguins team. One game was never enough for him, he would often join in another on the day just for fun. “Where else can you have just so much fun for free!” he panted out after one game.
His legend lives on in Golden Bay. Deeply loved by all those close to him, he’ll be missed by many, but remembered large as life.