May Meiners Butherus

May M. Butherus died September 29, 2012 at Washington Odd Fellows Home where her father told her she would live if anything happened to him & her mother.

May was born on March 6, 1914 at the family farm up Russell Creek in Walla Walla County during a snow storm. A relative came through the storm to help with her delivery. Her parents were Sadie Miller & Elmer Meiners. She rode her horse to Maxon Grade School on Russell Creek. She graduated from Walla Walla High School in 1932. She graduated as a Registered Nurse from St. Mary Medical Center School of Nursing in Walla Walla in 1936. She worked as a Registered Nurse in Long Beach, California and Walla Walla.

On December 5, 1937, she married Henry Butherus and left her career as a Registered Nurse. They moved to Yakima, then Spokane where with friends they built a boat, the Thelma May. Her husband began his military career at Washington State University, Pullman, WA. There they had three children, Donna, Arlene and Bill. They lived in San Mateo, CA, Anchorage and Fort Richardson, AK, Corvallis, OR, McLean, VA, Fort Bragg, NC, Fort McClellan, AL, Fort Benning, GA and Tokyo, Japan. She returned to Walla Walla with her husband and children in November 1957 upon his retirement from the military.

May & Henry supported the Congolese WSU High School which they visited at Ntondo, Lake Tumba, Africa. In 1972, they went to Pune, India and traveled to the Taj Mahal and other places of interest. After both trips, they toured in Europe on their way back to Walla Walla.

She was a member of the Bridge Club, Entre Nous, Russell Creek Homemakers Club, St. Mary Hospital Alumna, Daughter of the Pioneers, PEO Chapter GO, Lady Elks #287 and a bicycle group called the Cyclemates.

She adored her husband, Henry, and was very good to her children, grandchildren, neighbors and friends. She enjoyed bridge, bicycling, gardening, bowling, walking, reading, attending the Walla Walla Symphony and Little Theatre of Walla Walla and membership in the Elks Club.

She is survived by her daughter, Donna Johannessen of Walla Walla; daughter & son-in-law, Arlene & Satish Palshikar of Portland, OR; son & daughter-in-law, Bill & Jeanette Butherus of Bremerton, WA; 7 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Her husband, Henry, passed away in August of 2007. She was also preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Hazel Shields, Elsie Frazier and Delia Crumb and a brother, Roy Meiners.

Viewing & visitation will be held on Friday, October 5, 2012 from 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM at the Herring Groseclose Funeral Home, 315 W. Alder, Walla Walla, WA. The Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, October 6, 2012 at 10:00 AM also at the Herring Groseclose Funeral Home with Rev. Steve Morris officiating. Interment will follow at Mountain View Cemetery, Elks Rest. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary Medical Center Reflection Garden or charity of choice through the funeral home.