A memorial service for David Butler was held at 2:30 pm, March 26, 2023 at Grace Episcopal, 5607 Gordonsville Rd, Keswick VA.
David Butler, 1949-2022 by Mark Dahl Nov. 26, 2022
The bridge world has lost a fine gentleman, an outstanding player, and a friend to many. David Butler, President of Unit 139 since 2015, passed away suddenly on November 13, 2022. I first played with Dave in 1975, and after our first session, in which we had a 73% game, we looked at one another and said, “We should play again.” We did so, for 35 years. He combined a keen, analytical mind with poker skills that made him unflappable and unreadable at the table. He is perhaps the finest player who never finished first in an open North American Bridge Championships (NABC) event. Among his achievements were finishing second in the 2007 Senior Swiss, partnered by Jeff Hand, making the semifinals of the Grand National Teams in 2004, fourth and seventh in the North American Open Pairs, fifth in the Nail Life Master Pairs, fifth in the Mitchell BAM, and over one hundred Blue Ribbon qualifications. Most importantly, as a quiet country gentleman, David was my dear and patient friend.
John Miller, one of his partners, writes, “From the moment I began to play bridge in Charlottesville, VA in the 1980’s, I looked to Dave as the example of how to play the game. He showed me the value of temperament. You would never know that he had landed in an inferior contract, and when all the tricks had been turned, he often had made lemons into lemonade. We played only occasionally, especially after I left Charlottesville, but in one memorable regional we lost the knockout finals to the Jeff Meckstroth/Eric Rodwell team by one point in overtime. As was Dave’s habit, he took responsibility for that lone IMP that any of us could have secured, overlooking the fact we would never had made it to overtime had he not played brilliantly before. I will miss him greatly.”