Merchant Marine vet of WWII

GEORGE D. BUTLER - 1918-2009

The "Murmansk Run" was the most frightening part of World War II for Lt. George D. Butler of the U.S. Merchant Marine.

Fleets of U.S. Liberty ships loaded with war supplies had to make their way through German submarines and stormy seas to get relief to the ports of the Russian allies at Murmansk and Archangel, according to Butler's son David.

"The arctic routes to the northern ports of Russia were patrolled by half of the German fleet trying to stop those supplies," he said. "He would watch those ships being blown up all around him as they tried to get these convoys into port safely. Every single second of every day, you didn't know if a torpedo was going to go off underneath you.''

Mr. Butler survived World War II and went on to serve as a lieutenant commander in the Navy aboard a destroyer in the Korean War.

Mr. Butler, 90, died Aug. 15 of complications from Alzheimer's disease in a North Side nursing home.

He carried his love of ships home with him to Chicago after the war and later founded World Shipping Ltd., which handled freight and other maritime duties on the Great Lakes.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., he got his first taste of the sea while enrolled in 1942 at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., after attending St. John's College in Maryland, his son said.

"His parents came over from Ireland," his son said. "His father was a carpenter. He was the first person in the Butler family to go to college. He learned to love the sea at Kings Point. He couldn't afford to go to college, but he was smart enough to sign up for Merchant Marine."

Mr. Butler received an engineering degree at the academy in 1943 and entered World War II on the freighters supplying troops to the invasion forces at Omaha Beach the day after D-Day, his son said. "They were supporting the troop transports. D-Day was the most stressful for the soldiers who had to go ashore.''

After the surrender of Germany, Mr. Butler spent the last part of the war in the Pacific.

Mr. Butler married Alice Anne Davies, a young British woman, in 1944 in the city of Manchester. She became one of the first war brides to come to America. She died in 1976.

In 1987, he married Sally Jo Knowles, a Chicago schoolteacher.

After a brief time in the television repair business, Mr. Butler went to work for Grace Lines, booking freight transport from the Great Lakes ports. He later founded his own business, World Shipping Ltd. The company handled shipping, represented other transport firms and did maritime inspections, according to his other son, John Butler.

He was active in the Columbia Yacht Club and was especially proud of being the captain aboard the MV Abegweit in 1983 when it was brought from Nova Scotia to Chicago through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

"It had been a ferryboat," John Butler said. "He was the captain of the ship when they went from the Atlantic through the locks and into Chicago. There were nice quarters on it, and down below they used to roll train cars onto it, not just cars and trucks."

The 327-foot icebreaker and ferry was purchased from the Canadian National Railways. First launched in 1947, it was affectionately known as the ''Abby'' and was converted into the clubhouse for the Columbia Yacht Club.

His survivors also include his wife, Sally Jo; a daughter, Georganne Burton, and eight grandchildren.

Visitation will be from noon until the funeral at 2 p.m. Saturday at Drake & Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave. Burial will be in Rosehill Cemetery.

Obituary of George D. Butler

Photo: George D. Butler was active in the Columbia Yacht Club. His love of the sea dated to 1942. ;