Stella Butterfield

It is with great sadness, especially to Stella Butterfield, that we must say goodbye. The famously always late, but now forever late great Stella Butterfield passed away on June 14, 2022 after a long visit from the unwanted guest called Alzheimer's Disease. Stella Goldberg was born in New York on September 10, 1925, and while 96 years is a long time to be alive, our Stella made it clear to her family that she would live to be 120 years of age. Well, that didn't happen, but not for a lack of trying. Stella had a fantastic sense of humor, a brilliant mind and an incredibly positive attitude. Her mantra was, "There's nothing better than getting up in the morning." She truly loved her life and embraced every day with a grateful can-do attitude. Stella changed her surname from Goldberg to Gilbert after it was made clear that while she was qualified, there was no longer a position available. Quick to understand the temperature of the world in the late 1940's, Stella Gilbert was immediately employable and her siblings followed suit, all becoming Gilberts in order to outsmart anti-semitism. Stella met Frank Butterfield Sr. while working as a civilian for the Air Force in the Panama Canal Zone. Frank would be stationed at Nellis Air Force Base. They married and made Las Vegas their home in 1951. The two formed Butterfield & Butterfield Court Reporting. Stella was one of seven court reporters in the city and would continue working until her early 80's--earning the nickname "Fastest Pen in the West" because of her quick shorthand pen writing skill. (If you were ever cut off at an intersection by the infamous FastPen plate, that was her, and we're sorry even if she wasn't.) She never used a machine. During her time, she formed the Legal Secretaries Association and was the first President of the organization. She was also instrumental in the formation of the Nevada Certified Court Reporters Association. As part of the Soroptimist International of Greater Las Vegas, she held a number of offices including president. After Frank passed in 2001, and while she was managing her business and volunteering her time for various causes and projects (She was one of several people who saved the Old Mormon Fort from demolition), she decided to launch, with Tracy, the Widow Butterfield's BBQ Sauce: this famous sauce was a labor of love from a recipe that we all could not get enough of. Her professional accomplishments are too many to list; there are stacks of commendations, a dozen plaques, a key to the city and a day proclaimed in her honor by her dear friend, Harry Reid. She had a lifetime of people she worked with and among who she considered friends. She loved to work. Loved it! But Stella would say that having her three children was the highlight of her life and she participated in every way to make each child as miserable as possible by being annoyingly involved in every aspect of their lives as Den mother and chauffeur to endless singing lessons, dance lessons, play rehearsals, band practices, cheerleading practices, choir rehearsals and shows. She brought birthday cakes and ice cream and punch to our home rooms for too many years, leaving a deposition or a meeting to stay and distribute the cake. She raised money for the March of Dimes, The American Heart Association, The Red Cross and other organizations, and volunteered for countless more. Where Stella was asked to serve, her answer was always "yes." Stella is predeceased by, well, pretty much everyone...she was 96. But particularly, her parents Isaac and Rose Goldberg; her husband Frank Butterfield Sr.; daughter Starr Butterfield; brothers Ned and Jack; sisters Sylvia and Fran; several dogs, tortoises,fish, birds, chickens and an iguana. She is survived by Tracy Fraser and her husband William; Frank Butterfield Jr. and his husband Michael Radiff; Debby Berry who was the best former daughter-in-law a person could want; and Kathy Speck whose love and friendship drifted into adopted sister status; many nieces, nephews and great nieces, in particular, Jacki Herrell-Bernstein, who was beloved and very special to Stella. We would like to thank Shawn and Kerry McGivney and Dora Valentine at TLC with a huge thank you; and to the staff of caregivers whose jobs were done with every bit of the Tender Loving Care we expected for our Stella, thank you. We will miss her, but in all honesty, Stella survived the last 12 years of her life with Alzheimer's Disease. While she was experiencing all of the decline that is part of the disease, Stella was always very much herself and knew who was around her. The progression offered us all a very long goodbye. If you wish to say yours, there will be a service at Palm Mortuary/Affordable Cremation and Burial on 2127 West Charleston Boulevard, possibly the most unfortunate name for a funeral home that also attempts to humble one on one's way out. That being said, Stella loved a bargain, so it sort of works. In lieu of sending flowers, buy yourself a plant. If it lives, great. If it doesn't, then you will see Stella's "green thumb" at work.

Stella Butterfield

September 10, 1925 - June 14, 2022