James Gene Butler

Mr. James “Gene” Butler, 74, of Shelby, N.C. passed away peacefully on Friday, May 28, 2010 at Kings Mountain Hospice House.He was born in Wilkes County, Georgia, to the late Robert Butler and Jewell Rucker Butler.Gene graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he played baseball.He was a memberof Lafayette Street United Methodist Church.Gene was a Mason with the Cleveland Masonic Lodge No. 202, a member of the National Association of Left Handed Golfers, former president and former owner of Medical Arts Pharmacy.He enjoyed playing golf, loved the New York Yankees, and his dog, Thomas.He is survived by his wife of 11 years, Shirley Watson Butler; his sons, Bradley Wellington Butler, Sr. and wife, Tanya, of Gaffney, S.C., Dr. James Blair Butler and wife, Lisa, of Columbia, Tenn., and step-son, Roger Hutchins and wife, Carla, of Lexington, S.C.; his daughter, Nancy Butler Evans Tudor and husband, Richard, of Honolulu, Hawaii, and step-daughter, Danita Hamrick and husband, Scott, of Shelby; brother, Robert Dean Butler, of Tryon; his loving grandchildren, Laura Kathryn Tudor, of Dallas, Texas, Bradley Wellington Butler II, Stephanie Marie Butler, of Gaffney, S.C., Noah Butler, Seth Butler and Tess Butler of Columbia, Tenn., step-grandcildren, Dayne Hamrick andLaura Beth Hamrick of Shelby and Hannah Hutchins and Haylee Hutchins of Lexington, S.C. and his former wife, Carolyn Elliot of Macon, Ga.After services in North Carolina, interment will be in Pope’s Chapel UMC Cemetery in Tignall, GA