Mr. Matthew Maximilian Butschek

June 3, 1926 – November 1, 2021

Matthew M. Butschek was born at home on his parents' farm in Moulton, Texas on June 3, 1926.  He was the sixth of nine children born to Henry and Susie (Kubena) Butschek.  Matthew was also raised with his three cousins Virgil, Pearl, and Edith, born to Virgil and Wilhelmina (Butschek) Calcote, whom his parents adopted when Henry's sister suddenly died young.  Growing up, Matthew was very involved in the Catholic Church where he proudly served as an altar boy for Father Joseph Kopp.  He attended Catholic school through grade school, and then attended Sam and Will Moore Institute High School where he played for the school's basketball team.  His favorite pastime was traveling to the surrounding towns' weekend dances where he loved to dance to big band music with his schoolmates.

At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the United States Navy's V5 program.  He was trained as an electrician while stationed at Pier 91 in Seattle, WA and would serve as a Petty Officer 2 ^nd Class in the Pacific Theater for the remainder of WWII onboard the minesweeper YMS-87.  After the war ended, he joined the Navy Reserves and returned to civilian life, which is when he began his career as an electrical engineer at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.

In June of 1950 he went on a cruise to Cuba, and while he was there, the United States entered the Korean War.  Upon his return, he was activated and served in the Sea of Japan and Yellow Sea onboard the minesweeper YMS-95 and onboard Tank Landing Ship LST-799, better known as the "Long and Slow Target" to her crew.  Matthew's Korean War operational history included sweeping mines, tactical recovery of downed pilots; the evacuation at Wonsan (Wan-San), North Korea; protecting the Light Cruiser Helena and Battleship Missouri; and serving at operation Chromite, better recognized as the Inchon Landing.

After the Korean War, he continued his career at the phone company where he worked in Fort Stockton, Odessa, New York City, and Dallas.  Being recognized for his proactive and capable nature, he was chosen to join the company's Junior Executive Training Program and then went on to be a manager.  He later was chosen to work at Bell Labs in New York City where he and his team worked on the research and development of cell phones.  When he moved to Dallas, he followed in his parents' footsteps and began farming and ranching during his downtime when he wasn't working.  He also joined the Junior Chamber of Commerce ("Jaycees") Dallas Chapter where he was elected Chapter President from 1959-1960. Some years later, he met his wife Catherine (Ventrone) Butschek who also volunteered in the same organization.

He retired from Southwestern Bell in 1990 and officially began his second career in Financial Consulting.  He founded Accent Financial Services, where he assisted individuals and their businesses with financial planning and tax preparation.  He is survived by his wife Catherine, as well as his: brother John Butschek; sister Eleanor (Butschek) Wagner; daughter Trudy (Butschek) Lewis and husband Tryon; son Dr. Chris Butschek and wife Becky; son Eric Butschek; son Jason Morgan and his wife Cathryn; daughter Rachel (Butschek) Fuster and husband Fred; and son of the same name Matthew M. Butschek II.  He is also survived by his nine grandchildren—Eleanor, Annie, Daniel, Ross, Adam, Georgia, Still, Heath, and Brooks; and one great grandchild—Charles Wade Butschek.  He is preceded in death by his parents; his three cousins—Virgil, Pearl, and Edith; his brothers Henry, George, Edgar, Jimmy, and Allen; and his sister Henrietta.

Visitation will be on Thursday, November 4 ^th at Allen Funeral Home 508 Masters Ave., Wylie, Texas 75098 from 6:30PM – 8:30PM.  The funeral service will be Friday, November 5 ^th at Saint Anthony's Catholic Church 404 N. Ballard Ave., Wylie, Texas 75098 at 10:30AM.  Burial will be on Tuesday, November 16 ^th at the DFW National Cemetery 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy, Dallas, TX 75211.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations to: General Patton Memorial Museum 62-510 Chiriaco Rd., Chiriaco Summit, CA 92201: info@generalpattonmuseum.com.