Legacy of College Education
“Three Years and Three Summers” was the game plan devised by Mr. Charles Butts, Sr and Mrs. Ruby Pearl Keith Butts. She would enroll in college as a freshman in 1960 and take their four children away to college with her! As a proud graduate of Everglades Vocational High School in Belle Glade, Florida, she would enroll as a full-time student at Florida Normal and Industrial Memorial College located 259 miles away in St. Augustine, Florida. This historically black college would become the family’s second home for three years and three summers. Their four children would enroll in Webster Elementary School located within walking distance from the college.
The game plan devised smack in the middle of the civil rights movement was determined to be the best possible solution for advancement of the family. Ruby would become a certified classroom teacher versus seeking employment as a domestic worker, though Charles had already completed more than one year of college on an athletic football scholarship at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU), an historically black college and university (HBCU). He would remain in the primary residence owned by the couple while he worked two full-time jobs to support his family. At least once a month he would drive from Belle Glade to St. Augustine with a car trunk loaded with food to feed his family. Mr. Butts was an outstanding full-time employee of the Florida Experimental Station affiliated with the University of Florida and he also worked the midnight shift as an orderly employed full-time at the big pink Belle Glade Memorial Hospital.
Tenacity, determination, faith, perseverance and personal commitment to the greater good propelled Mrs. Butts to graduate from Florida Normal and Industrial Memorial College, Class of 1963. Her Alma Mater subsequently moved operations to Miami, Florida and is currently known as Florida Memorial University (FMU). As a Professional Educator in Florida, Mrs. Butts devoted thirty-five years of exceptional service to students enrolled in the Palm Beach County School District and she retired with full benefits in 1998.
An incredible Legacy of College Education has resulted in descendants of Mr. & Mrs. Butts achieving college degrees and advanced degrees from a vast array of academic institutions including: Palm Beach Junior College, University of South Florida, Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Central Florida, New England College of Optometry, Hampton University, Vanderbilt and University of Southern California.
The eagerly anticipated 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration would not come soon enough. Mr. & Mrs. Butts inspired generations throughout their extraordinary forty-eight years of marriage prior to the passing of Mr. Butts in 1999.
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