Rick Butler, Rocky View County’s deputy reeve, died after a skiing accident at the Nakiska Mountain Resort on Dec. 26.
Butler, councillor for Division 1, was with family at the resort when he hit a tree and sustained a chest injury. He was transported by ground ambulance and later pronounced dead at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary.
“He lived his life true,” said Gwynn, Butler’s wife. “He just was true to himself. What you saw is what you got. He was a man full of integrity and humility.”
Gwynn said Butler was an avid skier with knowledge of the resort, a family favourite to which Butler had a season’s pass.
Gwynn said Butler was conscious and able to speak with his daughter after the impact. She added that emergency care was timely.
“He had awesome care all the way through,” she said.
Butler was born in Alberta and has worked as a senior manager for governments, municipalities, First Nations and the private sector across Alberta, B.C. and Canada’s north for several decades.
Butler’s public service career included working as chief administrative officer for several municipalities and First Nations as well as assistant deputy minister of lands and municipal affairs for the government of the Yukon.
Prior to winning his seat on Rocky View’s council in the fall of 2010 and immediately being chosen by his colleagues as the deputy reeve, Butler was the founding executive director of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), serving in that role for eight years.
Butler was an active volunteer and a father to two girls, Marni and Corrie.
He lived on a small hobby farm with his wife and had an avid interest in international development.
Gwynn said her husband was passionate about public service and was strongly motivated by his love for community work and a desire to work through difficult situations.
“He believed it was the right thing to do and he believed it was important that people stepped up to the plate,” she said. “He was a positive influence and an energizer and collaborator.”
Gwynn added that Butler believed if you give people all the information, they will make the right decision.
Fellow Councillor Greg Boehlke said Butler will be missed.
“He was a wonderful guy,” he said. “I may not have agreed with everything he stood for… but as far as being a colleague, he was one of the best I ever had. I kind of made it my mission in life to make Rick laugh, because when he laughed, it made me laugh. It was infectious. I will truly miss that.”
Boehlke praised Butler’s representation of Division 1 residents and his ability to listen.
“He wanted to know what other people thought, rather than just telling his opinion,” said Boehlke. “That is a great attribute that we could all learn from.”
Reeve Rolly Ashdown, who heard the sad news on the radio on his trip home from a visit to Rocky Mountain House, said Butler’s administrative experience was a boon to council.
“Obviously we are going to miss him,” said Ashdown. “We are going to miss the view from the other side of government.”
Ashdown said on a personal level, he will miss Butler’s optimism and outgoing personality.
“When he is there… it changes the room,” said Ashdown. “That is a spectacular trait.”
Despite his extensive accomplishments, Butler was truly humble, according to friend and former Airdrie mayor Linda Bruce, who worked with Butler for six years on the CRP.
“On the professional level, Rick was an amazing individual who had such clarity and insight for community growth and development and he developed his whole professional life to that end,” said Bruce. “Everything he touched turned to gold. It was phenomenal working with him.”
“This is not the norm, this is the exception in the world of public service,” Bruce added. “If you could clone him and put him all over the world, this world would be a fabulous place.”
Bruce said she was still reeling from the shock.
“I can’t get my head around the accident,” she said. “This guy was a phenomenal skier. It is just one of those freak things.
“You will never find a better friend, a greater cheerleader, and (someone with the) infectious laugh as he had,” said Bruce. “There was such a kinship with him. There are very few people that you run across in life like Rick, and when you do, you feel blessed.”
Cochrane Mayor Truper McBride, who is the chair of the CRP, responded to the news on Twitter saying “the world has lost a great man and I have lost a true friend. You shall be missed and always remembered Rick Butler.”
Funeral services will be held at RockPointe Church, 255024 Lochend Road, NW, Calgary, (off Highway 1A) on Jan. 4 at 1:30 pm.
