Donald "Butch" Lee Webster Jr.

Donald Lee “Butch” Webster, Jr., died unexpectedly on December 5, 2023, at the age of 66 while working at a job site near Los Angeles, California. Butch was born in Bartlesville at Jane Phillips Hospital to parents Ann and Don Webster on February 21, 1957, and then resided at their family ranch near Copan, Oklahoma. Butch attended Copan and Bartlesville schools, graduating from College High School in 1975. During his formative years he enjoyed snow skiing, football, fishing, hunting, and music concerts, always nearby. Butch joined the U.S. Navy shortly after graduation and was selected to attend aviation engineering school. He became a flight engineer aboard many P-3C Orion anti-submarine and maritime surveillance planes, which operated over the Pacific Ocean and introduced Butch to many foreign countries and Navy bases. This led him to develop a deeper understanding and love for his country. Following completion of his military obligation in 1981, Butch returned to Bartlesville and began working for the family business, Superior Welding, Inc., operating metal manufacturing and steel foundry facilities, while taking evening classes at Northeastern A&M. After 6 years of working for his Dad and his Uncle Ben in the welding, steel fabrication, and foundry businesses, he decided to offer his abilities to others and quickly found success. His experiences with living on an active cattle ranch combined with learning industrial and fabrication processes at Superior allowed Butch to quickly become a highly sought manager for construction of large industrial projects. His career started with a job offer from Braden Manufacturing in Tulsa led to a very busy lifestyle over the next 22 years working as an independent construction manager for many projects related to the power industry across several states and also overseas locations including Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. He then worked on the construction of the Rivian car facility in Illinois and then more than 4 years of managing construction of battery storage facilities for the wind and solar power generating sites in Arizona and California. During his busy career, Butch never lost sight of his real “downtime” passion, spending time at “the Dunbar” ranch, one of family’s cattle ranches near Lenapah, Oklahoma. Butch began trips to the Dunbar early in his life, riding in a car seat with his Mom and Dad, and sometimes with his grandparents. He was introduced to cattle ranching and more importantly to the joys of hunting quail, doves, ducks, geese, and fishing for and sometimes hooking a trophy bass. He learned of, and greatly appreciated, the quiet serenity of the Dunbar’s nature experience as well as its simple beauty of rolling grassland that was an extension from the Tall Grass Prairie in Osage County. Living stateside gave him the time to make improvements to his beloved Dunbar, which became an annual meeting location for his high school friends to enjoy camping, campfire tales, fishing, and golf excursions. Butch is survived by his wife, Maria of Tulsa; parents, Ann and Don Webster of Bartlesville; son, Chase (Betsy) Webster of Bartlesville; two daughters, Natalie (Nathan) Scarborough of Tulsa, and Lyndsay Webster of Tulsa; siblings, Steve Webster of Fort Worth, Stacey Webster of Bartlesville, Carrie (Scott) Lane of Kansas City, Kansas; two precious granddaughters, several special nieces, nephews, and cousins. Butch was preceded in death by his grandparents, Eudora and Glen Webster, Margaret and Russel Blachly, Lowell and Kathryn Jenkins; great-grandparents, Carrie and John Jenkins; Uncle Ben and Aunt Melissa Webster, Shirley, Harry, Lacy, all of Bartlesville. He had many special friends all over the world, but two remained close most of their lives, his Uncle Tom Blachly of Tulsa and Jim Trotter of Topeka, Kansas. He loved and appreciated them all. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested for donations to be made to The Journey Home, Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Fund, or a charity of their choosing. Funeral Mass will be held Tuesday, December 26, 2023, at 5 p.m. at St. Therese Catholic Church, 1007 N. 19th, Collinsville, OK. Services are under the direction of Carter Davis and the Davis Family Funeral Home and Crematory – Walker Brown Chapel. Online condolences and remembrances may be shared at www.DavisFamilyFuneralHome.com. A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held on January 1, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2507 Glynnwood Lane, Bartlesville, OK 74006.

Donald "Butch" Lee Webster Jr.

February 21, 1957 - December 5, 2023