Already a subscriber? LOGIN »
By: Staff reports - Updated: 4 days ago
Born in Oakland, California, on Feb. 26, 1950, to Dr. Dorothy Butler, Ph.D., and Retired Lieutenant Colonel Eugene T Butler, Jr., Dr. Eugene T. Butler III Ph.D. was known as Mr. Butler to his children’s friends and Eugene or E3 to his good friends. He is survived by his wife, Fedora Sutton-Butler Ph.D., his two adult children (Yvette T. Butler and Eugene T. Butler IV), his sister Diane T. Butler, brother-in-law Collins Byrd, and his niece Daryl Byrd. The son of a US Air Force officer, Eugene called many places home. He attended Douglas HS in Rapid City, SD, for his last two years of HS and enjoyed a cowboy lifestyle with his horse, “PJ.” He regularly participated in and placed favorably in horsemanship, saddle bronc, and bull-riding events. In California, he received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry, UC Davis; his Ph.D. in Biochemistry, UC Berkeley. For his Ph.D., he purified and described the properties of the enzyme SP6 RNA polymerase. He was a postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology at the California Institute of Technology. He cloned and characterized the structure and expression of beta-globin genes to study the development of Beta thalassemia, a form of anemia due to mutations in those genes. He developed the SP6 promoter/SP6 RNA polymerase in vitro mRNA system to generate large amounts of pure RNA for RNA studies and the production of proteins in vitro. Eugene became an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Howard University College of Medicine, Washington D.C., where he taught medical students and performed research. He received a prestigious NIH’ RO1’ award to clone and express the gene for the SP6 RNA polymerase. There was stiff competition to clone that gene, Eugene, working alone, was victorious against a Japanese laboratory of 16-18 scientists. Hired as an Expert Molecular Biologist at the Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology (LDN), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Eugene focused the lab’s efforts on isolating genes with demonstrable roles in human neuronal development and function. Upon starting his family, Eugene moved with his family to Brookings, SD, where he was instrumental in establishing the forensics-based company Identity Genetics Inc. He served as the State Forensic expert in several court cases. He also taught MICR 436 Molecular and Microbial Genetics as an Adjunct Professor at South Dakota State University. Eugene established his biotechnology company GAEA Inc. in Brookings, SD, focusing on biofuels, with funds from NSF Small Business awards. With much appreciated significant help of a local angel investor, Eugene successfully developed a system for producing and purifying butanol and hydrogen from solitary-vessel bacterial fermentation. Several patents resulted from that project. GAEA Inc. became MyoBio Inc. (Make your own Biofuels). Eugene had many other interests, including comparing the tastes of beers, coffees, and teas, cooking fusion cuisines, and experimenting with spices. He hunted and fished to harvest food for his family. Fishing was his favorite pastime. As his hips began to fail, he stopped playing racquetball and squash and excelled at chess. He was a voracious reader and a computer enthusiast. He loved socializing as an executive member of the Trapdoor Spiders (TDS), formed during the pandemic and modeled after the male-only drinking and arguing society that featured Isaac Asimov as a charter member. Eugene and the other TDS gathered on a member’s deck for drinks and conversation monthly. Eugene’s friends described him as kind, brilliant, humble, generous, knowledgeable, humorous, soft-spoken, gracious, modest, and irreplaceable. Eugene lived on his terms until the end when he passed on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, at the Avera McKenna Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD at the age of 72. We all miss him dearly. He has been cremated in compliance with his wishes, and there will be no services. Condolences may be sent to the family through www.rudesfuneralhome.com.
If you wish view the full all article, watch this short video or subscribe now for full access.
605-692-6271 • 605-692-2979