Kalas Funeral Home & Crematory

Kalas Funeral Home & Crematory-Edgewater

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church

Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church

J. Henry “Hank” Butta, Davidsonville resident and telecommunications executive, passed away on July 10, 2018 at the age of 90. He married the love of his life, Anna Rose Janowiak, in 1949 and together they raised four children. Anna passed away in 1993. Hank is survived by  his three daughters: Anne Butta of Davidsonville, MD,  Marybeth Lebherz and her husband Robert of Frederick, MD, Susan Cavender and her husband Robert of Largo, FL, his son David Butta and his wife René of Edgewater, MD;  four grandchildren: Jenna Daly and husband Scott of New Windsor, MD, David A. Butta and wife Hannah of Millersville, MD, Maggie Lebherz and husband Josh Russin of Frederick, and Hannah Link and husband Stephen of Frederick;  and four great-grandchildren: Davey Butta, Corwin Butta, Lorelei Daly, and Roxanna Daly.  He was preceded in death by his grandson, Robby Lebherz.

Hank was born in Little Italy to the late John and Margaret Cherigo Butta and lived in East Baltimore most of his early years.  He was a 1946 graduate of Loyola Blakefield High School, which he attended on a scholarship for football. He was a member of the 1944 championship team.

After high school, Hank knew further education was out of his reach financially. He took courses in radio technology and started working in the mailroom of Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone, “the phone company”, in Baltimore. It wasn’t long before his talent was recognized by his supervisors and he rose up the hierarchy of C&P. Years later, Hank was promoted to Chief Executive Officer and President of C&P Telephone Company of Maryland where he guided his company through the breakup of AT&T in 1984. In 1991 he retired as President & CEO of Bell Atlantic, Maryland. 

Hank was very involved in many initiatives in Baltimore and around Maryland. He served as chairman of the board of Catholic Charities for many years and was invested into The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He worked with Mayor, and later Governor, William Donald Shaefer, primarily on the revitalization of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor; Hank was instrumental in the building of the National Aquarium and of Camden Yards. He was a passionate advocate for education: he served on the Maryland State Board of Education and was the first chairman of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. He directly and indirectly touched the lives of many Marylanders, and he would be glad to be remembered as a man who loved his community and made it better.

Friends are invited to celebrate Hank’s life with his family from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 15 at the Kalas Funeral Home, 2973 Solomons Island Road, Edgwater, MD.  Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 11 a.m. on Monday, July 16 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 1800 Seton Drive, Crofton, MD.  Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Loyola Blakefield High School, 500 Chestnut Ave., Towson, MD 21204 or to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)  at the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital. Please make checks payable to UMMS Foundation. Gifts may be mailed with a memo indicating that they are in memory of J. Henry Butta to: UMMS Foundation, 110 South Paca St., 9th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21201 or gifts may be made online at www.ummsfoundation.org/give. 

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Hank Butta

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