Lake Forest Obituary: WWII Veteran Walter L. Butt, Jr., 94,

The following obituary is from Wenban Funeral Home:

Walter L. Butt, Jr., 94, passed away Monday, September 22, 2014 at Lake Forest Place in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was surrounded by family.

Walter was born September 12, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois, to Walter L. Butt, Sr. and Ellen “Nellie” Marguerite (Coleman).

In 1941, Walter graduated from the University of Chicago. He enlisted in the United States Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor and served in the Philippines. Walter was a Staff Sergeant at General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area, under General Douglas MacArthur and typed the conditions of surrender for Japan; he kept a carbon copy of the terms of surrender, along with correspondence between MacArthur and President Franklin D. Roosevelt and materials from the Surrender Negotiation Conference in Manila, until 2003, when he donated his papers to the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia. They are now part of the memorial’s archives.

After the war, Walter returned to the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago and worked as a travel agent at Clara Laughlin Travel Services on Michigan Avenue (later Travel Professionals, Inc.). He served as the treasurer for the American Society of Travel Agents and travelled extensively until his retirement in the mid-1990s. He loved seeing the world and often shared his experiences with family and friends.

In 2008, Walter moved to Lake Forest Place at Lake Forest Hospital. He remained alert and interested in the world around him until his death.
Walter is survived and mourned by his nieces and nephews Kevin McEneely (Mary), Nancy Grupe (Terrance), Barry McEneely (Eileen), Joan McEneely, Brian McEneely (Naomi), Margaret Duquette (Patrick), and Thomas McEneely; as well as by his many grand-nieces, grand-nephews, great-grand-nephews, and friends. He was preceded in death by his sister, Rosemary (Edward) McEneely.

Visitation will be from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 25 at Wenban Funeral Home, 320 Vine Ave., Lake Forest. A funeral mass will follow at 10 a.m. the Church of St. Mary, 175 E. Illinois Road, Lake Forest. Interment at All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines. Info – www.wenbanfh.com or 847-234-0022.