Butler R. Eitel, age 86, died Monday, April 27, 2009, in Brookings, South Dakota. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 A.M. Thursday, April 30, 2009, at First Presbyterian Church in Brookings, with a luncheon immediately following.

Butler Ray Eitel was born January 6, 1923, at Dougherty, Iowa, to Ray Franklin and Mae (Hansell) Eitel. He was raised on the family dairy farm near Hampton, Iowa, where he participated in basketball, football, and track. He was an outstanding competitor in music events. He graduated from Hampton High School and attended the Hamilton Business School in Mason City, Iowa. He received a degree in music from the University of Michigan and a masters degree from the University of Minnesota.

Butler served in the U.S. Army during World War II and in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict. On September 2, 1947, he married Priscilla Jean Gilbertson at the Little Brown Church in the Vale at Nashua, Iowa. Butler was a renowned band conductor with the Air Force in Washington, D.C., the Universities of Minnesota and Montana, Edina (MN) High School, Macalester College (MN), and the Interlochen National Music Camp (MI).

Butler served as president of the American Bandmasters Association; Northwest Division Chairman of the National Band Association; State Chairman of the Association of Concert Bands of America; on the Board of Directors of the Montana Bandmasters Association; and was a Charter Member and State Chairman of the American School Band Directors Association. He served on the advisory boards of the National Foundation for Vienna Music Festival, the Music Foundation for Israel, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and the School Musician Magazine. He was engaged to conduct the United States Marine Band, the United States Army Band, and All-State Bands and Music Festivals throughout the United States and the Canadian Provinces. He was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and to the Grand Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi. He was elected as one of the Ten Most Outstanding Music Directors in the United States, 1972.

Butler was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Brookings and was a past president of Kiwanis. He was an avid reader and enjoyed competitive endurance trail riding, motorcycling, boating, and water-skiing, tennis, bicycling, and traveling with his family. He and Priscilla enjoyed quiet time together.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Priscilla Eitel, of Brookings; three children: Sylda (Brian) Pfile of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Elizabeth (John) Schaefer of Alexandria, Virginia, and David (Julie) Eitel of Petaluma, California; 13 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and two sisters: Velma Lynk of Bentonville, Arkansas, and Cheda Slinkard of Fairfax, Virginia. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Maurice and Eugene Eitel.