Harry Pierce Lysinger Jr.

‘’Little Butchie”-as he was known by family in Fairfax, Va lived the first 10 yrs of his life with Dad, a Fairfax cop, his Mom and one brother, Mike, who was slightly younger than him. As a teen, the family relocated to Md and Butch attended high school at Northwestern, he played football. He married early and went to work in a machine shop to support his small family. Eventually, he got a job with PG County school board and apprenticed as a plumber and pipe fitter.

When he met May in 1970, he was separated from his 1 st wife, and planning a divorce. He married MayBeth Newman on March 1, 1972 and bought a home with her. They had another son 3 yrs later, David P. Lysinger, he then adopted May’s children, John C. Lysinger and Mary L. (Lysinger) Clark, from May’s 1 st marriage. Cheri (Lysinger) Klenis was living with her mom who later married Robert Sansone, an acquaintance of both Butch and May. He went to trade school at night with the school board and finally got the education he needed to start his own business 3 yrs later.

As a Master Plumber/Steamfitter, Butch was in demand and worked hard for his family. Finally, all that physical work took a toll on his body ad he decided to seek a job with less physical stress. He ended up working for the CIA as a Contractor, managing the Headquarters Building as Project manager during the new addition and traveling with teams out of country to fix other Embassy problems around the world. He took a team behind the IRON CURTAIN IN BERLIN IN THE 80’S FOR 3 MONTHS. When Butch got back from Berlin, Reagan made the speech to the Russian ruler, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

He then went on to work on projects for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NASA for mission support, and finally the State Dept in DC. Butch was a certified OSHA Hazardous Waste Ops Supervisor and BOMA certified. Everywhere he went his employees loved him and gave him going away gifts and parties. All that time, he continued to service his plumbing customers part-time evenings, and Saturdays in Md. He worked hard, and played hard. He had 4 boats in his lifetime, and loved dancing with his wife on cruise ships, in Ocean City, Md, and with friends at clubs. When his heart condition became serious enough, Butch found a job in Florida and relocated to Jacksonville, with May and an only grandson who was 2 yrs old, working for Bank of America as their engineer rep for the East Coast, including Perto Rico. Soon after, he went to work for Simon Brothers, as project manager for their properties in Fl., including malls around the state. When Mr. Simon passed their Board got out of the engineering business. He found a position with Johnson Controls here. Butch retired after his heart started giving him problems, had open heart surgery and recovered well. He then went to work with his wife doing demos in Walmart, here in Jacksonville. All that time he helped raise his grandson, Jacob Newman, helped coach his football teams, and attended all his track meets and became a father figure for him. Church was an important part of his role in Jacob’s life. Butch was a good Christian man and member of Deerwood Meadows Baptist until his health kept him home. He was married to May 54 yrs and she will miss her life partner and best friend greatly. He died in ICU peacefully at Baptist South with his wife beside him.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, July 2nd, at the Evergreen Funeral Home Chapel, 4535 Main Street, Jacksonville, Florida 32206.  Visitation will begin at 10:00 am and continue until the time of the service. The Evergreen Chapel is located under the bell tower on the grounds of Evergreen Cemetery.  Arrangements are under the direction and care of Evergreen Funeral Home – (904) 353-3649.