Lillian Alcalde

I am writing to give you a bit of history regarding my sister Lillian. Lillian was born into
the family of Joseph and Louise Butcher almost 90 years ago. She was one of ten
children. The first four children were boys; Joseph (only lived 2 weeks), followed by
Henry, Louis, and Earnest (who went by "Ford"). The next child was a girl named
Rosemarie (who only lived approximately 2 years due to pneumonia). Lillian was the
next daughter, then a stillborn baby, and finally two more daughters, Bernie and
Frances, followed by another son, Charles (Chuck). She is survived by only the last two
siblings, Frances and Charles (Chuck), who both live in Pennsylvania.
Lillian being the oldest living daughter was blessed with helping our mother take care of
the younger sisters and brother. As I recall, our father spent a lot of time working, as
was needed with that many children. Our mother survived this large family with the help
of the Lord and a prayer book in her hand.
We were all baptized into the Catholic faith. Although we did not get to church as much
as we should have, we all remained loyal Catholics. Lillian was a strong believer in her
faith and later in her years had to always have a religious channel on her TV. She and
her husband belonged to the Knights of Columbus and she joined their ladies auxiliary.
I do not remember much about our younger years. She worked as a waitress in a
restaurant. Lillian took jobs working as a maid for some wealthy families and lived in
their homes. She cooked and cleaned for a lawyer at one time in Florida. She always
worried about winter weather and hated driving in the snow. She decided to move to a
state that did not have snow. Our mother had a good friend who lived in California and
invited my mother and Lillian to come and stay with her until she could get a job and get
herself an apartment. She was able to find work in a restaurant and settled down in
California. This is where she met her husband, Alfredo, and got married.
Many of the events in our lives following that were shared through conversations on the
telephone. We were able to visit with one another in our later years. Again, Lillian was
very faith driven and blessed by a community of friends who looked after her.
Fortunately, we were able to visit with Lillian this past June for a week even getting her
out to dinner several times during our visit. I am eternally grateful for the time I spent
with her. Her suffering is over now and I pray she is at peace in the presence of the
Lord.
Sincerely,
Frances