Paul Butler, RIP

Sometimes this blog is fun for me to write. Sometimes it is easy to write. Sometimes both. This is not one of those times.

It is on Facebook now, so I suppose I can write about it here. I don’t know anything more than what Roberta posted on the Club FB Page.

He was on his way to meet the Tuesday group heading North on Tully Rd. riding solo. Near Brandt a witness in a car saw him flip over the handlebars. Paramedics started life support, but he had been without oxygen for 20 minutes. His neck was broken and he never gained consciousness. He was taken off life support and passed Friday, June 7, 2024. Tragic accident.

Paul and Roberta (all photos thanks to Ken Meyers)

I first learned of the accident on Tuesday afternoon, and of the seriousness of the situation later that evening. By Wednesday it was becoming clear that Paul’s injuries were going to be fatal, and we learned on Friday that he had died.

Many, many people are shocked and saddened by the sudden loss. Paul had lots of friends from his career in law enforcement and in the local cycling community. He had a wonderful wife and sons and grandchildren. I cannot imagine their grief.

There are going to be lots of tributes and memories shared over the coming weeks. I’m going to offer a few of my own here. I’ve known Paul for something like 23 years, ever since he started riding with the club. He was friendly, funny, and a person of extremely good character. He had a real sense of humor. Years ago many of our club members acquired nicknames (mine was ‘Cherryboy’). Paul used cleverness and self deprecating humor to create his own. His initials are PB. Pb is the symbol for lead in the periodic table of elements. So he created the moniker ‘lead butt’, using Pb and his supposed speed on the bicycle. Which was a major exaggeration; Paul was a strong and competent rider. I never called him ‘lead butt’, preferring the abbreviation ‘lb’, which he would always answer to.

LB on my wheel

He did a huge amount of volunteer work for the Stockton Bike Club. He served as President, coming into office when the club was in a slight state of disarray. I agreed to serve as his vice president, and take over the task of maintaining the membership list and handling renewals. This was before you could do this kind of thing on line so it was a lot of work. The only reason I agreed to do it was because I had so much respect for Paul and the much larger amount of work he was doing for the club.

He also was in charge of the Delta Century, our club’s annual ride to raise money, which we mostly donate to charities. He did this for several years. Being the director of an event like this is a massive task, but since he was chief and ran the Glendora Police Department, his administrative skills were first rate. Again, I found myself volunteering to do more DC tasks that I really wanted to, because I respected Paul and appreciated that he was doing so much more than I was.

He was a regular on club rides too. I cannot emphasize how important it is to have a core of regular riders if a bike club is going to thrive. Over the years that ‘core’ has undergone some changes as riders age or move or simply lose motivation or interest. Paul was a vital part of that core for years right up to this week.

Core Club Riders: now missing one.

And now he is gone. A very sad blog indeed.