{"id":2299,"date":"2014-08-19T19:03:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T19:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afe.epicenter1.com\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe"},"modified":"2024-03-18T21:54:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T21:54:24","slug":"tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe","title":{"rendered":"Tom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Tom

Remembering an Industry Icon and AFE Champion<\/h3>

<\/p>\"Tom

AFE Public Relations Chairman Charles Kremp looks on as Tom\u2019s good friends accept recognition for The Tom Butler Family Fund on Tom\u2019s behalf. From left to right: Jack Howard, Teleflora; Dave Gaul, DWF Wholesale Florist Company; Herman Meinders, emeritus Teleflora and Michael Martin, Teleflora.<\/p>
Renowned floral industry icon and AFE Development Chairman Tom Butler was recognized for establishing The Tom Butler Family Fund<\/strong> at AFE\u2019s Annual Fundraising Dinner<\/a><\/strong> on Aug. 14 in Marco Island, Fla. Attended by more than 250 industry members, the dinner was held in conjunction with the Society of American Florists\u2019 (SAF) Annual Convention. It was later that evening the industry learned Tom had passed away, surrounded by family after his battle with cancer.
Tom established the Tom Butler Family Fund with a contribution of $50,000 in July to provide undesignated funds to support AFE\u2019s research and grant efforts.
\"Tom

AFE Fundraising Dinner attendees who had been touched by Tom\u2019s friendship were asked to stand during the presentation.<\/p>
Tom was a longtime devoted advocate for the Endowment, beginning his service as a trustee in 2006. He served as development chairman from 2008-2014, as chairman from 2010-2012 and was recently appointed as an emeritus trustee.
\u201cEveryone who knew Tom was not only impressed by his energy but also his compassion and sincere interest in our industry and each one of us,\u201d AFE Development Co-Chairman Charles Kremp of Kremp Florist said. \u201cTom\u2019s fund will be at AFE forever in appreciation of Tom and Becky\u2019s commitment. Tom will be forever in our memories as a very special person and a very good friend.\u201d
Known for possessing an unparalleled knack for fundraising and for his significant interest in expanding and improving the Endowment, Tom helped raise more than $2 million by establishing new industry named funds<\/strong><\/a> within AFE since 2011.
\u201cTom was the disciple that our heavenly father placed before all of us to create friendships and love for the floral industry,\u201d Tom\u2019s good friend Dave Gaul of DWF Wholesale Florist Company said. \u201cHe touched every part of the industry and would hope everyone would see the value in giving back the floral industry through AFE to see this industry flourish.\u201d
\"Tom

1945-2014<\/p>
Born in Detroit, Tom began his distinguished career in the industry more than 44 years ago. After holding multiple prestigious positions, he joined American Floral Services (AFS) as President and CEO in 1985 and in 2000 led the company\u2019s successful merger with Teleflora, creating the world\u2019s largest flowers-by-wire company. As Teleflora chairman, Tom guided Teleflora as a trusted business partner, national marketer and technology innovator for independent retail florists.
In addition to serving as World President of Teleflora International, he was a member of the American Academy of Floriculture and Professional Floral Communicators-International. He was a past board member for SAF and was inducted into the SAF Hall of Fame in 2012 for his outstanding contributions to advancing floriculture in America. Tom and his wife, Becky, resided in Salt Lake City and made frequent trips to visit his daughter Amy and her family in Dallas.

<\/p>","protected":false},"template":"","news-categories":[32,31,48,29],"class_list":["post-2299","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news-categories-donors","news-categories-latest-news","news-categories-memorials","news-categories-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Floral Endowment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-18T21:54:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/endowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/imported-files\/Butler_FEATURED-1080x675.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/news\\\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/news\\\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/news\\\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/news\\\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/imported-files\\\/Butler_FEATURED-1080x675.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-19T19:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-18T21:54:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/news\\\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/news\\\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/news\\\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/imported-files\\\/Butler_FEATURED-1080x675.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/imported-files\\\/Butler_FEATURED-1080x675.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/news\\\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Floral Endowment\",\"description\":\"Funding the Future of Floriculture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/endowment.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE","description":"An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE","og_description":"An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.","og_url":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/","og_site_name":"American Floral Endowment","article_modified_time":"2024-03-18T21:54:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/imported-files\/Butler_FEATURED-1080x675.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/","url":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/","name":"Tom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/imported-files\/Butler_FEATURED-1080x675.jpg","datePublished":"2014-08-19T19:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-18T21:54:24+00:00","description":"An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.An industry icon and AFE champion, Tom Butler passed away, surrounded by family, on Aug. 14. In July, he established the Tom Butler Family Fund within AFE.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es-MX","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/endowment.org\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/imported-files\/Butler_FEATURED-1080x675.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/imported-files\/Butler_FEATURED-1080x675.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/news\/tom-butler-family-fund-established-within-afe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tom Butler Family Fund Established Within AFE"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/","name":"Endowment Floral Americano","description":"Financiaci\u00f3n del futuro de la floricultura","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es-MX"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2838,"href":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2299\/revisions\/2838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endowment.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-categories?post=2299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}