Former Faculty Tom Butler Update

It was great to hear from former history teacher Tom Butler who moved to the Ithaca (N.Y.) area and bought an old house that needed “lots of work both on its exterior and on magnificent gardens and walls and walks that had been let go for 30 years.” In Ithaca, Tom met “a wonderful lady, Joyce.” The couple got married and moved to Joyce’s house on the shore of Cayuga Lake just across the county. Tom, always the consummate teacher, began teaching at the Lifelong Tompkins County Senior Citizens Council. Tom is teaching politics, economics, Supreme Court, and drawing (“thank you Caryn Azoff!”). Tom is in fifth year on the board of directors and second year as president. “Helping to turn Lifelong around and get it on solid footing once again has been tremendously rewarding,” he said. This fall Tom started teaching version of Makers and Milestones of the Middle Ages—a course he taught to Hamden Hall freshmen. Tom also volunteers at the Cornell Botanic Gardens. On May 2018, Tom was honored with the James J. Byrnes Award for excellence in community service in Tompkins County. On the family arena, he and Joyce travel to San Diego a couple of times a year to see Tom’s son, Nick, Hamden Hall Class of 2000, and Nick’s wife, Lisa, and their two children, Dylan, 4, and Briana, 2. In September, Tom and Joyce completed a 150-mile bicycle trip from Prague to Vienna. It marked their third European bike trip—the others being to Provence and Andalusia, with many more planned. Tom is playing a lot of golf but “no more running or refereeing” as he was preparing for a new knee he got this November. “Since I am still doing lots of teaching, the one thing I miss from my days at Hamden Hall is my coaching of girls’ soccer. I cherish memories of all of those teams.” We wish Tom lots of luck with the new knee and congratulate him on his accomplishments. Stay in touch!