[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 190 (Tuesday, December 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E3015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO MRS. RUBY BUTLER, BETTER KNOWN TO HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS AS 
                           ``DEAR ME BUTLER''

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                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 15, 2009

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a 
wonderful woman who devoted most of her life to the well-being of her 
friends and family. Dear Me was born to the parentage of Offie and 
Lillie Floyd Pitts in Opelika, Alabama on January 23, 1926. The Pitts 
raised Dear Me and her siblings in Salem, Alabama. Dear Me attended 
Flint Hill School and changed her name to Ruby prior to beginning high 
school. Ruby was raised in a God-loving, God-fearing home and accepted 
Christ at an early age. She attended the Weeping Mary Baptist Church in 
Salem, Alabama.
  Offie and Lillie Pitts moved their family to Knoxville, Tennessee in 
the late 1950's. Ruby worked as a domestic while in high school and 
married Frank Butler. They relocated north to Chicago and raised four 
children-Lucy, Charles, Juanita and Earl.
  Ruby worked at various factories and plant jobs in Chicago, including 
W.F. Hall Printing Co. and retired from Goodwill Industries. Ruby was 
highly religious and was a member of the Greater Rock Church, was 
delighted to see Barack Obama elected president of the United States, 
and often prayed for him and his family and their safety.
  Ruby loved children and made her real lifetime career caring for her 
own children and for the children of others. I am told by one of her 
grandchildren, Ms. Wynona Redmond, that she had a tradition of giving 
members of her family monetary gifts that matched their age on 
birthdays and that she often thought and acted on behalf of others 
before considering herself, and that is one of the reasons she will 
always be ``Dear Me'' to all of those who knew her. We salute Mrs. Ruby 
Butler, Dear Me, for being an outstanding humanitarian with a big heart 
who was more concerned about others than for herself.

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