Patricia Susanne Butler died on April 2, 2017, at home, a short time after her diagnosis of cancer. While she had a mere three months to come to peace with her illness, she was surrounded by friends and family and the caring staff and nurses of Providence hospital, home care and hospice.  She enjoyed many visits by her friends and co-workers who brought food, read to her, cried with her and made her laugh.

Patricia was born and raised in the Chicago area in a large family with six brothers and one sister and enjoyed a large extended family.

Patricia earned her BA degree in Fine Art from Northeastern Illinois University in 1976. While continuing to work on her artwork and participating in several gallery shows, she also began a life-long vocation of social service and advocacy work for women and children. She went to work with the Chicago YWCA rape crisis program and battered women’s shelter.

In 1979 she moved to Portland, OR with her husband Bill, and began work as the co-coordinator of Transition House at Bradley-Angle House.  At the shelter for women and child victims of domestic violence, she provided counseling, advocacy and community education. Pat helped to change the lives of countless families in her work there through 1986.

Pat earned her MSW from Portland State University in 1989. In the early 90’s she was a child and family therapist at Children’s Home Society, Parry Center and Morrison Center, working with emotionally disturbed children with challenging home situations, and kids having experienced abuse and other forms of trauma.

In 1992 she adopted her beloved daughter Camille at 13 days of age. Pat and her then partner Diane, raised their daughter with a large family of friends, sharing experiences of kids’ soccer games, camping, birthday and school events with a community of new parents. Seeing Camille grow to an active, smart, independent young woman was one of Pat’s hopes fulfilled.

From 1994-99, Pat had a private counseling practice and enjoyed the independence that brought to the work she loved. She was skilled at creating a safe and playful environment where kids felt comfortable to share difficult emotions and experiences.

Beginning in 1998 and continuing to the present year, Pat worked with Multnomah County as a Mental Health Consultant in a school-based program providing counseling and care coordination to children and their families in many schools in the Portland and Gresham areas. She provided a mix of counseling, play therapy, understanding and encouragement to many hundreds of children and help to teachers and parents. She was passionate about making the world an easier place for the most vulnerable among us.

In her private life, she had a keen interest and talent for artistic endeavors. She painted, sketched, did collage work and had a wonderful eye for photography. As a compulsive doodler, she was always creating and her meeting notes were a work of art!   Pat loved watching and learning about all kinds of wild birds, experiencing them in the wild and at home, where her well stocked feeders attracted generations of bird visitors to observe and photograph. She had a profound love of nature, and walked frequently through Mt. Tabor where she found solace….it was her church.  Walking the Oregon coast beaches with her dog Chloe was one also one of her favorite pastimes, rain or shine. She loved road trips as well as international travel. Her favorite trips were to Brussels, Amsterdam and Venice where she also visited a friend in Austria.  She loved the history and the art and spoke often of her adventures.

She was preceded in death by her mother Marylou (Erbach) Butler, her father Cornelius Butler as well as her brother Kevin. She is survived by her daughter Camille Butler, her five brothers and a sister and their families, her aunts, uncles and cousins. She also leaves behind a large loving Family of Friends whom she left too soon.

In Pat’s own words, “Don’t wait too long…if you can retire, retire.  If you can travel, travel.  Value your health and those close to you.”