A daughter's legacy
Since losing their daughter, Rebecca Joy Butler, at age 20 in 2011, Beverly and Timothy Butler have devoted their lives to shining a light on her story and celebrating her life by helping others. Becky Butler, a student at Wayne State University, was active on campus and as a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. After her death, her parents established the Rebecca Joy Butler Memorial Endowed Scholarship to assist a student with financing their business education. The recipient needed to be a student at the Mike Ilitch School of Business and demonstrate the same zest for life, love for others and potential for leadership as Becky Butler. In 2014, a gift from an anonymous donor allowed for the establishment of the Rebecca Joy Butler Study Abroad Endowed Scholarship. The recipient of this scholarship — given for the first time this year — also must be a business student. Timothy Butler, an associate professor of supply chain management in the business school, sees the value of travel abroad, as he and his wife are involved with leading the study abroad program for the business school and have visited businesses in the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy. Since their daughter's death, the Butlers have made it their mission to spread awareness about the importance of donor registry. They have gotten involved in the Gift of Life Michigan Campus Challenge, an annual event enlisting people to register to be organ, tissue and eye donors. The challenge runs five weeks and puts college rivalries to life-saving purposes. During the Butlers' four years of involvement, the Wayne State team has registered a total of 3,000 new donors.
