Chamber Honors Funeral Home Owner for Humanitarian Service

Kings Park resident Leo Ostebo knows a lot about his town. As a former Kings Park High School English teacher for 37 years, and founder/director of the Kings Park Heritage Museum, he’s seen much and met many. He’s certainly a good resource when learning about the town, or its people.

“I think Kings Park is the greatest town to live in,” said Ostebo, the Kings Park Chamber of Commerce’s second-vice president. “And the Billy Butlers of the world is what makes Kings Park so good.”

The chamber agrees and has named Butler one of its  2010 Persons of the Year. Butler, owner and manager of the Butler-Hughes Funeral Home, has been awarded Humanitarian of the Year. He will be recognized at the Chamber’s March 4 dinner.

“I’m honored,” Butler said. “It is nice to be recognized.”

Born in Brooklyn, Butler and his family moved to Kings Park in 1971, where he graduated from Kings Park High School eight years later. He then enrolled at SUNY Farmingdale, where he earned a degree in mortuary science. Since 2003, he has owned and managed the Butler-Hughes Funeral Home.

“Helping the families of your home town through such a difficult time has been both an honor and a rewarding experience,” he said.

Butler knows the importance of this all too well. His younger brother Tom was a New York city firefighter who died on September 11, 2001. In typical fashion, Butler found a way to turn that tragic day into a charitable effort, establishing the Firefighter Thomas Butler 5K Run, which has raised more than $60,000 in annual scholarships for Kings Park High School students. (Butler offered memorial services at no charge to families who lost loved ones on 9-11.)

“Very quietly, he does a lot of things that don’t make the papers,” Chamber President Charles Gardner said. “He’s the prototype, setting the standard for businessmen in this town, who recognize the need to give back.”

Butler’s long list of past and present volunteer affiliations include: the Chamber, the Kings Park Educational Foundation, the Christ the Kings Council of the Knights of Columbus, the Kiwanis Club of Huntington (past president), and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, among many. As a parishioner of St. Joseph’s Church, he helped revive their annual golf outing, which he serves as chair of. And he’s playing a major role in the Kings Park's first ever St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

“In his business, and in his social circles, Bill spends a lot of time with fundraisers, and bringing up the plight of people in need,” Gardner said.

“[The honor] is very nice,” said Butler’s companion, Desarae Denis. “It is always great when someone is recognized. It is well deserved, and he does a lot.”

Added Ostebo, “I have never seen him angry. He always has a sunshine face.”