Van Ness R. "Van" Butler Sr., of Grayton Beach, Fla., passed away peacefully on Aug. 25, 2000, at the age of 96. He was born in Canova, S.D., on Sept. 21, 1903, and arrived in DeFuniak Springs with his parents, Willis H. and Elsie Holmes Butler, and family in 1907.
He is preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Helen Enzor Butler; brothers, Bert Butler and James Butler; and sisters, Alice Kennedy and Ruth Gardner. Survivors
include his son, Van Ness R. Butler Jr. and his wife, Jonnye, of Grayton Beach; daughters, Helen Janice Toole of Grayton Beach and Elsie Gretchen Enfinger of Tallahassee, Fla.; six grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Van grew up in DeFuniak Springs, where he graduated from Walton High School in 1922, and attended Palmer College. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1926 and began a teaching career in Point
Washington and Santa Rosa Beach that same year. Van married Helen Enzors, also a teacher, in 1929. Van taught and was principal of what is now Bay Middle School and also the old Cessna Built School in Santa Rosa for over 30 years. He was honored for his educational contributions by having a new elementary school in South Walton named for him in 1996.
Van homesteaded 80 acres of land in Grayton Beach in 1926. In 1936, he inherited additional property in Grayton Beach and began a second
career in the summer season selling lots and renting cottages. In 1938, he built a store and recreation hall in Grayton Beach, where many generations of young people gathered to dance and get acquainted. The building is now a popular restaurant known as the Red Bar.
Van helped organize Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative to bring power to South Walton in 1942 and served on their first board of directors. In the 1950s, he worked with C.H. McGee to get the
first telephones in South Walton. He also built the first water system south of the bay in 1939. Over the years, he served his community in many roles. | 
