Sally Butler, member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, dies at 93

Sally Butler was a truth teller and truth seeker who sought justice for many including victims of abuse, according to her friends. She even served as a foster mother to a boy whose mother had died.

A member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, the native of Bayside, Queens, devoted 75 years to religious life as a minister in education and social work.

"She had Irish twinkling eyes, an expansive heart, and was very generous," said Butler's friend and colleague Sister Ave Clark, of Heart to Heart Ministry in Whitestone, Queens. "She kept opening her heart to the wounded and helped them know they can rise again."

Butler died on Oct. 6 at 93.

Sally Butler was born on March 11, 1931. After graduating from St. Agnes High School in College Point, Queens, Butler entered the Novitiate at Amityville on Sept. 8, 1949. On Aug. 4, 1950, she was clothed in the Dominican habit and received her religious name, Sister Charles Kathleen. She received a bachelor of science degree at St. John’s University in Jamaica, Queens; a master of arts at the College of St. Rose in Albany, and a master of social work at Hunter College in Manhattan.

According to friends and colleagues, Butler was an exceptional educator, beginning a career in elementary education at St. Frances de Chantal School in Brooklyn, followed by St. Bartholomew in Elmhurst, and Cure of Ars in Merrick. In 1962, her ministry in secondary education began at St. Albert High School in Brooklyn and continued at Dominican Commercial High School in Jamaica.

"It's truly the choice of every human being to resurrect and make a difference. Sally poured her life out for others because she thought that was the right thing to do," said Clark of Butler, who was a force of good in impoverished neighborhoods.

In 1968 just after the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, Butler, along with her fellow sisters Sheila Buhse and Bernadette Lameroux volunteered for work in housing projects in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.  A priest in the neighborhood "saw education as the key for young people to escape drugs and poverty," a Sisters of St. Dominic obituary for Butler said. 

"Father Frank Ricigliano, pastor of St. Michael-St. Edward church in Fort Greene said they needed sisters to go visit women who were not married and had children, so we sort of fell into social work," said Sister Sheila Buhse, of Long Beach. "We learned how to advocate for the mothers when they didn't know what questions to ask. We saw a big problem of pregnancy and unmarried girls at the young ages of 13 and 14, and had to get them out of the bad situations they were in."

Butler realized that women needed a place to live safely where they could go to school and raise their children. According to Buhse, Butler "knew where the money was and she knew how to get it." She contacted Eunice Shriver Kennedy and asked her to donate money for a good cause in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Not only did Kennedy like the idea, but she kept in touch with Butler, who served as executive director.

"The Rose F. Kennedy Family Center was a safe place for young, unmarried mothers to care for their children, allowing them to focus on going to college and getting jobs," said Buhse. "Sally got great satisfaction when her talents were being used to help those who couldn't help themselves. She felt that she turned down marriage and having a family to help other people."

Butler was an accomplished pianist who enjoyed Classical music and jazz and served as an organist at Cure of Ars parish.

"She took the road less traveled and companioned people who were abused. I'm a survivor and Sally gave me the courage to go on by telling me, 'Don't let your wound define you,' " said Clark. "I'll always remember her as a friend and a courageous agent for change. 

A forceful and committed advocate for justice, Butler embraced issues around children and families, racial equality, and victims of all forms of abuse, especially victims of clergy sexual abuse, which led to her involvement with SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests). She also was a founding member of Catholic Whistleblowers, a group that supports survivors of sexual abuse while calling for accountability in the church. She also became the foster mother to the then-12-year-old Carlos Cruz after his mother’s death. 

"She was a voice for the voiceless, the poor, neglected, marginalized, and abused. She wanted to lift you up and tell you, you have a life to live," said Clark. "Her light did not go out when she passed; it got brighter."

Butler received many awards and honors for her work among the people of Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

She is survived by her nieces and nephews and by the members of her Dominican community.

Services were held at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse on Oct. 15. Interment was in St. Dominic Cemetery on the motherhouse grounds.