The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Arizona
Thursday, June 15, 1972
Skip Butler's tragic death saddens town (Thursday, June 15, 1972)
The tragic death in the line of duty of a popular young law enforcement officer cast a pall of gloom over this community this week.
Deputy Sheriff Ralph Ken (Skip) Butler, 32, died Monday in St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix of multiple injuries received Sunday morning approximately 11 miles west of Wickenburg on Highway 60.
Deputy Butler, according to fellow officers, was driving his sheriff's car west on patrol when he received a radio call for assistance at the scene of a highway double fatality accident 15 miles east of Wickenburg.
It is believed he turned on his flashing lights, pulled off into the borrow ditch alongside the highway and then made a u-turn that brought him directly into the path of a westbound tractor-trailer combination.
In the resulting collision, the deputy's car was almost completely demolished and he was pinned in the wreckage.
He was eventually taken to Community Hospital here for emergency treatment and then flown by helicopter to St. Joseph's, where he was placed in intensive care. All efforts there, including brain surgery, were in vain.
Skip Butler was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., but attended school here - graduating from Wickenburg High School with the Class of 1958.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wickenburg Sun (Wickenburg, Arizona)
Thursday, June 22, 1972, p. 15
Hundreds Pay Respects to Deputy Skip Butler
More than 500 sorrowing friends, including law enforcement officers from throughout this section of Arizona, gathered in the Community Center at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, June 15, to pay their respects to Deputy Sheriff Ralph Kent (Skip) Butler, who lost his life in an automobile accident while on duty the morning of June 11.
The Rev. Bert Follmar, pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church, of which Skip was a member, conducted the services. Burial was in the Wickenburg Cemetery with Sgt. James Mason of the Wickenburg Sheriff's office conducting the graveside ritual of the Fraternal Order of Police, at the request of the bereaved family. Deputy Butler was a member of that state-wide organization.
Pall bearers were officers who had served with Skip here. They were Deputy Sheriffs William Newton and Paul Peterson; Sgt. Karl Miller and Ray Hoffman of the Wickenburg Police Department and Ron Goodson and Bob Schuette, both former deputy sheriffs now with the Arizona Highway Patrol.
Sheriff John Mumert headed the large Phoenix Sheriff's Office group attending the services which included Capt. Clarence Baldwin, Capt. Tom Melcher, Capt. Ralph McMillan and Capt. Joe Love.
Also attending the services were Chief of Police Arthur F. Fairbanks, Tempe.
Chief of Police Harry Vandervort, Prescott; Chief of Police Louis H. Johnson, Peoria; Ray Field, Senior Inspector of the U.S. Border Patrol and J. Vemon Tuckey of the FBI. Lt. Ron Hoffman headed the 12-man honor guard from the Arizona Highway Patrol. Escorting the long procession from the Community Center to the cemetery were three motorcycle officers from the Phoenix Police Department; two from the Tempe Police Department and two from the Arizona State University Police Department.
Thursday, June 15, 1972
Skip Butler's tragic death saddens town (Thursday, June 15, 1972)
The tragic death in the line of duty of a popular young law enforcement officer cast a pall of gloom over this community this week.
Deputy Sheriff Ralph Ken (Skip) Butler, 32, died Monday in St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix of multiple injuries received Sunday morning approximately 11 miles west of Wickenburg on Highway 60.
Deputy Butler, according to fellow officers, was driving his sheriff's car west on patrol when he received a radio call for assistance at the scene of a highway double fatality accident 15 miles east of Wickenburg.
It is believed he turned on his flashing lights, pulled off into the borrow ditch alongside the highway and then made a u-turn that brought him directly into the path of a westbound tractor-trailer combination.
In the resulting collision, the deputy's car was almost completely demolished and he was pinned in the wreckage.
He was eventually taken to Community Hospital here for emergency treatment and then flown by helicopter to St. Joseph's, where he was placed in intensive care. All efforts there, including brain surgery, were in vain.
Skip Butler was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., but attended school here - graduating from Wickenburg High School with the Class of 1958.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wickenburg Sun (Wickenburg, Arizona)
Thursday, June 22, 1972, p. 15
Hundreds Pay Respects to Deputy Skip Butler
More than 500 sorrowing friends, including law enforcement officers from throughout this section of Arizona, gathered in the Community Center at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, June 15, to pay their respects to Deputy Sheriff Ralph Kent (Skip) Butler, who lost his life in an automobile accident while on duty the morning of June 11.
The Rev. Bert Follmar, pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church, of which Skip was a member, conducted the services. Burial was in the Wickenburg Cemetery with Sgt. James Mason of the Wickenburg Sheriff's office conducting the graveside ritual of the Fraternal Order of Police, at the request of the bereaved family. Deputy Butler was a member of that state-wide organization.
Pall bearers were officers who had served with Skip here. They were Deputy Sheriffs William Newton and Paul Peterson; Sgt. Karl Miller and Ray Hoffman of the Wickenburg Police Department and Ron Goodson and Bob Schuette, both former deputy sheriffs now with the Arizona Highway Patrol.
Sheriff John Mumert headed the large Phoenix Sheriff's Office group attending the services which included Capt. Clarence Baldwin, Capt. Tom Melcher, Capt. Ralph McMillan and Capt. Joe Love.
Also attending the services were Chief of Police Arthur F. Fairbanks, Tempe.
Chief of Police Harry Vandervort, Prescott; Chief of Police Louis H. Johnson, Peoria; Ray Field, Senior Inspector of the U.S. Border Patrol and J. Vemon Tuckey of the FBI. Lt. Ron Hoffman headed the 12-man honor guard from the Arizona Highway Patrol. Escorting the long procession from the Community Center to the cemetery were three motorcycle officers from the Phoenix Police Department; two from the Tempe Police Department and two from the Arizona State University Police Department.
The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, Arizona
Thursday, June 15, 1972
Skip Butler's tragic death saddens town (Thursday, June 15, 1972)
The tragic death in the line of duty of a popular young law enforcement officer cast a pall of gloom over this community this week.
Deputy Sheriff Ralph Ken (Skip) Butler, 32, died Monday in St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix of multiple injuries received Sunday morning approximately 11 miles west of Wickenburg on Highway 60.
Deputy Butler, according to fellow officers, was driving his sheriff's car west on patrol when he received a radio call for assistance at the scene of a highway double fatality accident 15 miles east of Wickenburg.
It is believed he turned on his flashing lights, pulled off into the borrow ditch alongside the highway and then made a u-turn that brought him directly into the path of a westbound tractor-trailer combination.
In the resulting collision, the deputy's car was almost completely demolished and he was pinned in the wreckage.
He was eventually taken to Community Hospital here for emergency treatment and then flown by helicopter to St. Joseph's, where he was placed in intensive care. All efforts there, including brain surgery, were in vain.
Skip Butler was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., but attended school here - graduating from Wickenburg High School with the Class of 1958.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wickenburg Sun (Wickenburg, Arizona)
Thursday, June 22, 1972, p. 15
Hundreds Pay Respects to Deputy Skip Butler
More than 500 sorrowing friends, including law enforcement officers from throughout this section of Arizona, gathered in the Community Center at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, June 15, to pay their respects to Deputy Sheriff Ralph Kent (Skip) Butler, who lost his life in an automobile accident while on duty the morning of June 11.
The Rev. Bert Follmar, pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church, of which Skip was a member, conducted the services. Burial was in the Wickenburg Cemetery with Sgt. James Mason of the Wickenburg Sheriff's office conducting the graveside ritual of the Fraternal Order of Police, at the request of the bereaved family. Deputy Butler was a member of that state-wide organization.
Pall bearers were officers who had served with Skip here. They were Deputy Sheriffs William Newton and Paul Peterson; Sgt. Karl Miller and Ray Hoffman of the Wickenburg Police Department and Ron Goodson and Bob Schuette, both former deputy sheriffs now with the Arizona Highway Patrol.
Sheriff John Mumert headed the large Phoenix Sheriff's Office group attending the services which included Capt. Clarence Baldwin, Capt. Tom Melcher, Capt. Ralph McMillan and Capt. Joe Love.
Also attending the services were Chief of Police Arthur F. Fairbanks, Tempe.
Chief of Police Harry Vandervort, Prescott; Chief of Police Louis H. Johnson, Peoria; Ray Field, Senior Inspector of the U.S. Border Patrol and J. Vemon Tuckey of the FBI. Lt. Ron Hoffman headed the 12-man honor guard from the Arizona Highway Patrol. Escorting the long procession from the Community Center to the cemetery were three motorcycle officers from the Phoenix Police Department; two from the Tempe Police Department and two from the Arizona State University Police Department.
Thursday, June 15, 1972
Skip Butler's tragic death saddens town (Thursday, June 15, 1972)
The tragic death in the line of duty of a popular young law enforcement officer cast a pall of gloom over this community this week.
Deputy Sheriff Ralph Ken (Skip) Butler, 32, died Monday in St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix of multiple injuries received Sunday morning approximately 11 miles west of Wickenburg on Highway 60.
Deputy Butler, according to fellow officers, was driving his sheriff's car west on patrol when he received a radio call for assistance at the scene of a highway double fatality accident 15 miles east of Wickenburg.
It is believed he turned on his flashing lights, pulled off into the borrow ditch alongside the highway and then made a u-turn that brought him directly into the path of a westbound tractor-trailer combination.
In the resulting collision, the deputy's car was almost completely demolished and he was pinned in the wreckage.
He was eventually taken to Community Hospital here for emergency treatment and then flown by helicopter to St. Joseph's, where he was placed in intensive care. All efforts there, including brain surgery, were in vain.
Skip Butler was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., but attended school here - graduating from Wickenburg High School with the Class of 1958.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wickenburg Sun (Wickenburg, Arizona)
Thursday, June 22, 1972, p. 15
Hundreds Pay Respects to Deputy Skip Butler
More than 500 sorrowing friends, including law enforcement officers from throughout this section of Arizona, gathered in the Community Center at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, June 15, to pay their respects to Deputy Sheriff Ralph Kent (Skip) Butler, who lost his life in an automobile accident while on duty the morning of June 11.
The Rev. Bert Follmar, pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church, of which Skip was a member, conducted the services. Burial was in the Wickenburg Cemetery with Sgt. James Mason of the Wickenburg Sheriff's office conducting the graveside ritual of the Fraternal Order of Police, at the request of the bereaved family. Deputy Butler was a member of that state-wide organization.
Pall bearers were officers who had served with Skip here. They were Deputy Sheriffs William Newton and Paul Peterson; Sgt. Karl Miller and Ray Hoffman of the Wickenburg Police Department and Ron Goodson and Bob Schuette, both former deputy sheriffs now with the Arizona Highway Patrol.
Sheriff John Mumert headed the large Phoenix Sheriff's Office group attending the services which included Capt. Clarence Baldwin, Capt. Tom Melcher, Capt. Ralph McMillan and Capt. Joe Love.
Also attending the services were Chief of Police Arthur F. Fairbanks, Tempe.
Chief of Police Harry Vandervort, Prescott; Chief of Police Louis H. Johnson, Peoria; Ray Field, Senior Inspector of the U.S. Border Patrol and J. Vemon Tuckey of the FBI. Lt. Ron Hoffman headed the 12-man honor guard from the Arizona Highway Patrol. Escorting the long procession from the Community Center to the cemetery were three motorcycle officers from the Phoenix Police Department; two from the Tempe Police Department and two from the Arizona State University Police Department.
Inscription
"Skip" LOVING HUSBAND, FATHER AND SON IN THE ARMS OF THE LORD
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