Dr. Lucius Nelson (Ben) Butler, DVM
Ben Butler, DVM
Glendale - Maricopa County
Inducted in 2018
Veterinarians frequently specialize in either small animals or large animals. Dr. Lucius Nelson “Ben” Butler’s specialty was large animals but if Dr. Snodgrass, the clinic’s small animal vet, wasn’t available he would step in.
Ben was one of four children, he was born on June 23, 1914 on a ranch in Mesa, Arizona. The family moved to Wickenburg and then into Phoenix when his father gave up his dream of becoming a rancher. There he grew up and attended Phoenix Union High School, then went on to receive his degree in Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University in 1937.
In 1938 Ben married Arizona native, Evelyn Hammels. They had three children: Wayne, Nelson and Norma. When war broke out, he joined the Army and served as a major in the U.S. Army Air Force Veterinary Corp until 1945.He was stationed in Roswell, New Mexico for a time and worked as a meat inspector.
After World War II the family settled in Glendale where they had two acres of land, a horse and the kid’s assorted animals – sheep, pigeons and so forth. Ben planted grapes behind the house and the youngsters earned money hoeing weeds up and down the rows.
Ben was a pilot. His son Wayne recalled a time when he was going take him and a friend flying one day. When they went out to the hangar to get the plane there was a problem. Ben decided not to take the boys up but being the adventurous type went up himself. Wayne said his dad flew about 50 feet off the ground over to the crop dusting airfield and landed without incident.
Establishing the Glendale Animal Hospital in the mid ‘40s, Ben served the agricultural community in the West Valley for the next 15 years. A serious auto accident prevented him from continuing his practice so after the accident Ben went to work for the State of Arizona on the Livestock Sanitation Board and later became the State Veterinarian.
Wayne said, “When my dad retired he didn’t really settle down.” He had 20 acres at Sarival and Northern where he started an orchard and he had calves. “He worked just as hard in his seventies there as he ever did. He enjoyed that. He just liked being out. He liked that sort of life.”
Granddaughter Debra took a week long course at Kansas State a few years ago. “All the previous classes are in this one area on the wall,” she said. “I found his class picture and got my picture taken next to it.”
In his letter of recommendation to the Arizona Farmers and Rancher Hall of Fame, Paul Rovey of Paul Rovey Dairy said, “Dr. Butler set the example for how large animal vets would operate well into the future.”
Ben Butler was a member of the Arizona State Veterinary Examining Board and was past president of AZVM. In 1960 he received an award for dedicated services as Veterinarian and Executive Director of the Arizona Livestock Sanitation Board. He served in that position until he retired in 1979. He passed away on October 11, 2009 at the age of 94.
Affiliations
Arizona Veterinary Examining Board - Member
AZVM - Past President
Arizona Livestock Sanitation Board - Veterinarian and Executive Director 1960-1979
