Obituary Miss L.P. Butler

Press, 1 December 1988, Page 14

Obituary Miss L.P. Butler

Miss Lear Phyllis Butler, a woman who had devoted virtually her entire adult life to the service of the St John Ambulance brigade, has died. She was 85. Miss Butler had joined the brigade in 1922 and served continuously until her retirement in 1974. She was appointed an officer of the cadet division in 1933, and promoted to the Christchurch Corps staff in 1935 as the officer in charge of (female) nursing cadets. In 1942 she stepped up to the Canterbury-West-land District staff, and in 1951 was appointed district superintendant, a position she held until her , retirement. The appointment made her the district’s senior

female officer; the administrative structure of the brigade then was headed by a Commissioner, then two Superintendents, one for female and one for male staff. Miss Butler was admitted as a member of the Order of St John in 1952, and became an officer of the order in 1962. Membership of the order, the brigade’s parent body, as distinct from membership of the brigade, is an honour awarded only with the Sovereign’s consent. Miss Butler was appointed a Justice of the Peace in November 1961. For her 49 years service to the St John Ambulance Brigade, she was awarded a service medal and seven bars.