Fleta Ruth Bishop-Butler's Obituary
Fleta Ruth Bishop Butler
Fleta Butler passed away on September 9, 2009 in Scappoose, Oregon. She arrived in Oregon as the bride of her late husband Clarence Butler who proceeded her in death in 1976. For over 30 years she worked for the Oregon Journal and Oregonian in Portland. She and her husband lived in the hills around Chapman. In the years she lived there she came to know the flora and fauna of the area and loved it dearly.
Fleta was born in Ridgefarm, Illinois on December 26, 1909 and traveled by train to the Kansas plains when she was six weeks old. Her parents were Frances Bishop of English ancestry and Jessie Bell Edwards Bishop, a tiny lady of Irish ancestry. She was raised on the western plains of Kansas where her father served as a Methodist minister for 36 years ministering in different towns on the Western Plain. She was the oldest of 5 children.
Fleta's family was very musical and Fleta served her father's church as pianist and her younger sister sang for services, weddings, and funerals. She attended Methodist College in Salina, Kansas for one year and then Weslyan College of Music, unfortunately the Depression came and she had to work. Fleta worked during the Depression for the family of the Assistant to the Governor of Kansas. She also worked for Capper Publications in Topeka, Kansas where she met her husband an Air Force Officer during WWII in 1943, after the war they married and came to Oregon.
During Fleta's life in Chapman and Scappoose she was an avid gardener and was well versed in the knowledge about plants and how to grow them. She belonged to the Scappoose Garden Club for 20 years. Fleta also had other avid interests, especially cats and birds. In past years she many of a stray cat and kept a cat until late in her life.
Fleta was a very gregarious person, friendly and outgoing. Anyone who met her could be assured of a friendly and interesting conversation. She had an exceptional memory and loved to tell stories of her life growing up in Kansas. She walked every day until she was ninety and would always stop to pet any cat the she saw.
Fleta belonged to the American Legion Auxiliary Post #98 of St. Johns and donated her husband's flag to the Post.
In 2007 she moved to Rose Valley Assisted Living in Scappoose, Oregon and enjoyed watching the birds at the feeders outside her window.
Fleta had a very long life and in her later years maintained a keen mind and a friendly demur.
There will be a private interment at Fairview Cemetery in Scappoose, Oregon
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