William Bryce Butler, husband of Rosalyn Neilson of Oxford, passed away of multiple organ failure on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Regional One Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Bill was born July 2, 1937, in Brownsville, Tennessee but lived in Memphis until his 11th Grade year when his family moved to Phoenix.
Bill graduated from North High School in Phoenix and attended the University of Arizona where he received a Bachelor of Science in Math with a minor in Education and a Master of Science in Math. He taught at several schools before becoming a long-time faculty member at North High School in Phoenix where he taught higher math and was the Director of the Baccalaureate Program. Through the years, Bill was the recipient of multiple National Science Foundation Summer Institutes awards.
Rosalyn met Bill in 1997, and they lived in Phoenix and Prescott, Arizona; Mountain Home, Arkansas; and Oxford, Mississippi. Bill loved the great outdoors and exploring its back roads. He and Roz traveled extensively and saw forty-six states during their time on the road. In various motorhomes, they drove to Alaska twice and to Nova Scotia. They loved the Western states, especially Wyoming where they had a summer home.
In addition to his wife, Rosalyn, Bill is survived by his family in Phoenix: son, Daniel Bryce Butler (Shannon); granddaughter, MacKenzie Butler Jasalsky (Keegan); and great-grandchildren, Bennett and Emersyn Jasalsky. He is predeceased by his parents, Sarah and Ted Butler, and grandson, Aidan Bryce Butler.
Bill’s ashes will be sprinkled at a later date in the Neilson family plot in Oxford. There will be no service or visitation. Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, or to a charity of your choice.
