Barbara Jean "Bobbie" Butler

On Saturday, October 10, 2020, Barbara Jean Butler passed away at her home in Macon. Known as “Bobbie” to many, and “Sabie” to some, she will be remembered as one-of-a-kind by all. Bobbie was born in Sweetwater, TN, and was the 8th of 10 children born to the late Joseph Banks and Daphne Armstrong Banks. At just 10 years old, Bobbie lost her mother to a tragic accident and for a brief time was sent to live with an aunt. Unhappy away from her family, she begged her two older brothers, Robert and Joe, to come and get her; they did, and then Joe and Dorothy Banks, who had no children of their own at that time, continued raising her until the end of high school.

Following high school and ready to make her own way, Bobbie and a girlfriend decided to move to Cocoa Beach, Florida, where she began work as a waitress at a Krystal restaurant. 43 years later, Bobbie would retire as the longest serving employee for the company and was one of the first females to ever hold a management position with Krystal. She traveled with the company, opening and closing stores as needed, hiring, firing, and building teams, and was a widely respected area training manager covering much of Georgia when she stepped away. After Florida, her job took her to Savannah and later to Macon. Through Krystal, Bobbie met and touched countless lives, and once in Macon had regulars that covered every socioeconomic group and they all loved her. She was a champion of the underdog, the downtrodden, and the disabled…they gravitated to her, and she provided meals to them regularly, always caring for them as if they were her own. She was beloved. It was also at the Krystal on Pio Nono Avenue in Macon that she met her future husband, Edward A. Butler. She would laugh and say it wasn’t love at first sight, but in the end, they shared 46 years of marriage until his passing in 2012.

Years after her retirement from Krystal, Bobbie’s son-in-law, Joe Hernandez, purchased The Grey Goose Player’s Club, an iconic restaurant and neighborhood bar in Macon. Bobbie couldn’t resist and spent the last decade or so of her life lighting up the place with her feisty brand of hospitality. She was a favorite of regulars and employees, and she kept up with the lives of all of them, calling it “As The Goose Turns”. She loved her work at The Goose, but the thing that she loved most would be her family. She was a devoted and loving mother to her children; there was absolutely nothing she would not do for them. Her grandsons, Sam and Cole, were the light of her life. She also felt blessed to have such a close relationship with her son-in-law, Joe, and his family, who made her feel like one of their own from the start. It meant the world to her.

Bobbie was an outspoken, if not always politically correct, person. You always knew where you stood with her and she was never afraid to say what was on her mind. She was a firecracker who loved a good laugh and a good plate of food. She was generous, too. She usually preferred to shop more for others than for herself, except at Christmas when she would have gifts wrapped up for herself and put them right under the tree saying “sometimes you just have to treat yourself”! Finally, Bobbie was of the Baptist faith, had been a longtime member of the old Faith Baptist Church, and later attended Northway Church. Simply put, Bobbie Butler was a good soul, and the world is a little dimmer for her absence.

In addition to her parents and husband, Bobbie was preceded in death by all her siblings: Starl, Joe, Clarence, Robert, Donald, Bill, Nancy, Ann, and Harriette.

Survivors left to treasure her memory include her daughter, Sonia Butler Hernandez (Joe); son, Edward A. Butler Jr.; grandsons, Sam Hernandez and Cole Hernandez; brother-in-law, Gerald Butler (Marie); sisters-in-law, Betty Bouchell (Jack) and Patricia Costner; many nieces and nephews, as well a host of friends, all who will miss her deeply.

On Wednesday, October 14, 2020, a memorial service honoring the life of Bobbie Butler will be held at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of McCullough Funeral Home. The family will greet friends an hour prior to the service, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Pastor Richard Azbell will officiate. For friends unable to attend at this time, the service will be streamed live via the McCullough Funeral Home Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mcculloughfuneralhome/live/. Following the service, friends are invited to the home of Sonia and Joe Hernandez for fellowship and laughter in honor of Mrs. Bobbie. The address is 112 Westchester Drive, Macon, GA.

McCullough Funeral Home and Crematory has the privilege of being entrusted with these arrangements.