Peter Noble BUTALA

BUTALA - Peter Noble aged 72 years of the Divide-Eastend, Saskatchewan, area died a mere two months after being diagnosed with esophageal and stomach cancer, on Thursday, August 9, 2007 at the Shaunavon Hospital and Care Centre at Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. Peter was born at Frontier, Saskatchewan on November 23, 1934. He received his education at Bonita School at Divide where he rode horse the five miles to school. One of Peter's fondest memories was of chasing wild horses and of herding cattle with his father. In the late 1950's he was involved in herding 500 horses from the family ranch at Divide to Swift Current. Peter and Sharon Butala were married in Saskatoon on May 21, 1976 and Sharon came to live on the Butala ranch west of Claydon , Saskatchewan, where Peter had spent his life. In 1996, as he approached retirement, they made arrangements with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the provincial government to establish the Old Man On His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area. For this initiative he and his wife received a number of conservation awards, both federal and provincial. Peter has been a rancher all his life and at various times has been president of the Claydon Grazing Co-operative, the Southwest Forage Association and the White Mud Feeders Association and is a founding member of the Claydon Lions Club. In January, 2005, he was honoured with a lifetime membership in the Saskatchewan Agricultural Graduates Association, having graduated from the School of Agriculture in 1953. He is currently a member of the regional board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. In July, 2004, Time Magazine Canada named him a Canadian Hero. Peter was a man of great vision and had openness to the world. In his retirement he loved to travel including trips to Mexico, the British Isles, the South Pacific and to the Slovak Republic to search out his father's old village. In his later years he enjoyed meeting and visiting with some of the country's most distinguished people. Peter often said he felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to live the wonderful life of a rancher. He was predeceased by his father George on February 4, 1977 and his mother Alice on July 28, 1984. He is survived by his wife Sharon, his step-son Sean Hoy (Carol) of Saskatoon and step-grandchildren Declan and Maeve, his sister Nancy Bascom (Marvin) of Eastend and their family and his sister Mary Jane Butala of Calgary. Funeral Services will be held from Eastend Memorial Hall in Eastend on Monday, August 13, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. with Reverend Ken Schrag officiating. Tributes by his great niece Kelly Bascom and Lorne Scott, President of the Board of Directors of Nature Conservancy of Canada will be given. Ushers are Glen Duke and Larry Pierce. Interment will take place at Riverside Cemetery at Eastend. Binkley's Funeral Service of Shaunavon ( www.Binkleys.com ) is in charge of the arrangements. For those wishing, memorial donations may be given to the Nature Conservancy of Canada in care of Binkley's Funeral Service, toll free at 1-877-BINKLEY. Published in the Regina Leader-Post on 8/11/2007.