Robert Earnest Butin

Robert “Bob” Earnest Butin, 83, of Newton died on Monday, February 7, 2022, at Park Centre. A funeral service will be held at 11:30 a.m., Friday, February 11, 2022, at the Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory. The family will greet friends with a coffee time from 10:00a.m. until the time of service. Memorials to the Jasper County Historical Museum may be left at the funeral home.

Bob, the son of Robert Blaine and Kathryn (Schultz) Butin, was born on March 2, 1938 in Oskaloosa. He lived in Jasper County most of his life. Bob graduated from Newton High School in 1956 and then attended mechanic school in Kansas City. Upon returning to Jasper County he worked at Ulrich Motors and for Jasper County on the bridge crew. He later worked for the United Telephone Company as a lineman and then an outside engineer. After retiring from the telephone company he worked with Newt Wolf at Wolf Phone Connection. He also traveled around the country giving seminars on Conductive Noise Mitigation.

On January 14, 1972, Bob was united in marriage with Judith “Judie” Tomlonovic at the Community Reformed Church in Newton. Bob was a member of the Newton Church of the Way, Newton Elks Lodge, a past member of the Izaak Walton League, and had completed the Newton Citizen Police Academy. He was a skilled blacksmith and had volunteered time at the Jasper County Historical Museum, Covered Bridge Festival, and Living History Farms. Bob also volunteered at the Salvation Army, doing sound and lights for the Newton Community Theatre and sound at the Community Reformed Church. He and Judie loved traveling and spending time at their place in Bellevue, where Bob would enjoy the Mississippi River Locks and Dams.

Bob is survived by his children, Robert “Bob” (Bonnie) Butin of Garner, Joseph “Joe” (Dixie) Butin of Olathe, Kansas, and Victoria Crook of Newton; step-daughter, Lesa (Steve) Chedester of Newton; 11 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father, Robert Butin; mother and step-father, Kathryn and Louis Vander Pol; wife, Judie Butin; his brother, Richard Butin; and grandson, Brice Udelhoven.