2022 FEATURE

Once upon a time, spanning much of the 20th century, a true visionary came on the scene in what is now the Village of Oak Brook. Paul Butler was the Father of Oak Brook—but he accomplished a whole lot more. What follows is a reminder of some of what he did, and how he did it all

Karen Bushy, the last president of Oak Brook to know and spend time with Butler, has contributed many of the observations in this piece. Bushy was a person that Butler trusted during the years when his ideas were being translated into reality, as the dream began to be implemented on the scale he had imagined. Bushy met Butler shortly after moving to Oak Brook in 1973. They became good friends and remained so for the rest of Butler’s life.

Before there was a Paul Butler, there was the Butler Paper Company. Butler’s grandfather Julius Wales Butler and great uncle Oliver Morris Butler founded the J.W. Butler Paper Co. in the 1800s in the Chicago area. It grew to become one of the largest family-owned paper companies in the country until Paul Butler sold it in 1960. Nevertheless, Butler Paper was the foundation that enabled Butler to add companies and follow pursuits in a number of eclectic directions.

Paul Butler arrives on the scene

Tom and Mary Sterling, authors of Hinsdale & the World, relate that Butler was born on June 23, 1892 to Frank and Fannie Butler of

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