Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
BUTLER, John E. and Alice
BUTLER, John E. and Alice. John E. Butler (DUBUQUE, IA, MAR. 11, 1931-- )is the fourth generation to head the firm of COTTINGHAM AND BUTLER, INC. In December 2011 the Telegraph Herald reported that since 1957, the company had grown from two employees to more than 400. It is the 36th-largest insurance brokerage in the United States and the only one in the Top 100 that calls a city smaller than 500,000 home. With clients in 47 states, Cottingham & Butler annually brings $70 million to Dubuque, with the vast majority remaining in the local economy as employees buy homes, goods and services. He served on the board and executive committee of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, the 250 largest commercial brokerage houses, and Assurex International. A graduate of Babson College in Massachusetts, Butler received his MBA in Insurance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In March 1997, he was the chairperson of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
Locally, John Butler served on the boards of the DUBUQUE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, LINWOOD CEMETERY UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE, DUBUQUE BOYS' CLUB, and [[YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (Y.M.C.A). He was also instrumental in reopening the business area of downtown Dubuque to automobile traffic in the late 1990s and renovation of the SECURITY BUILDING. In 2008 he was a leader in the community for taking action to prevent the potential sale of Grant WOOD pictures by the CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY. Alice has been on the board and president of the [[YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (Y.W.C.A.), the Visiting Nurse Association Junior Board, and active in Girl Scouts.
The commitment of John Butler and his wife Alice to bettering society has extended beyond Dubuque. On August 13, 2007, Laurel School announced that the Board of Trustees voted to accept the largest single gift from a donor in the School’s history. The $5 million gift to Laurel’s permanent endowment was given to the School by John and Alice Lehmann Butler ’49 of Dubuque, Iowa. In honor of the Butler’s generosity, the Board voted to rename the Fairmount Campus, the School’s second campus consisting of 140-acres with facilities for athletics and outdoor education in Geauga County, as The Butler Campus.
Mrs. Butler, who played field hockey while at Laurel and Wellesley and on an amateur team while living in Cleveland after college, says that her passion for fitness and athletics was inspired by her teachers at Laurel School. An accident in 2002 in Morocco reminded her of that legacy from Laurel. Mrs. Butler believes she and her husband survived the accident, in part, due to their consistent, long-standing fitness regime.
The Butlers' gift requires Laurel School to raise an additional $5 million in gifts from other donors. One-half, or $2.5 million, of the new dollars are to be designated toward Laurel's Butler Campus; the other half, or $2.5 million, is to be designated toward the Faculty Investment Initiative endowment, to assist the School in providing competitive compensation as it seeks to engage the best faculty, staff and coaches available.
In 2011, John E. Butler and Alice Butler were recipients of the FIRST CITIZEN AWARD from the Telegraph Herald.