Jeremiah "Jerry" Gregory Butler

Jeremiah was born on September 24th, 1980 at Saint Benedict's Hospital in Ogden, Utah to Brent and Janae Butler. Jeremiah grew up in Clearfield, Utah and West Point, Utah. He attended elementary school at Holt Elementary in Clearfield and West Point Elementary in West Point. He attended junior high at Syracuse Junior High in Syracuse, Utah and went to Clearfield High in Clearfield, Utah.

Jeremiah was a loving father to 3 kids. Each one of his kids was from a different mom. All 3 of the moms had custody of his kids but whenever he got them on the weekends, he pretty much let them do whatever they wanted and spoiled them. He did not care about being the good or bad parent, he wanted to be the cool parent. He made sure to get his kids the fanciest phones and newest gaming systems. I remember helping him hunt down a PS5 and Series S last year at double the cost just so his boys could come over and play the new systems. During a few of the Christmases, our parents had to help him pay off the layaway bills because he over extended himself but still wanted his kids to have their stuff. He loved having his kids over and letting them stay up way late playing video games and eating junk food. It always bothered him a great deal when the moms would not let his kids visit him. In the end, he tried to be the best dad he could be to all 3 of his kids within his means. He was not perfect but he tried to support them as much as he could.

Jeremiah was a lifelong fan of the Utah Utes football team. He took our little brother Colton to a few of the games at Rice Eccles. They also went to a bunch of arena football games together. He was also a huge fan of the Philadelphia Eagles long before they ever won a Superbowl. Up until a few years ago, Jeremiah also enjoyed fishing.

He had many business ideas that he tried. He bred bearded dragons for a few years and actually supplied most of the local pet shops with babies. He also tried his hand at breeding snakes. He also tried for a few years to grow saltwater corals. He was always trying to come up with a way to make it big.

Jeremiah most recently worked for Canyon Pipeline. He worked there for 11 years and was liked by his co-workers. He was a hard worker that put in some long hours getting projects done.

From talking with my parents and little brother, I don't think most people knew the real Jeremiah. We all have our own stories and pieces of the puzzle that was his life. I told our mom that us 3 brothers were ships in an ocean on our own courses that only intersected sometimes. Not talking to Jeremiah for months at a time was normal. He was kind of an antisocial person that kept to himself even with his immediate family. There are large gaps in his adult life that none of us can fill. He left us with a lot of questions and no answers to them. He only lived a few minutes from me but I had not even texted with him since June or July. I had zero idea that he had quit his job until I asked our dad why we hadn't seen him for a while.

I remember him as a hot head with a foul mouth that went off on anyone at the drop of a hat. But he cared about people and showed it in various ways. He got me involved with the bearded dragons, snakes, and saltwater stuff. He gave me a lot of my saltwater stuff to include a $400 light. I remember driving with him all the way out to Grantsville to pick up some fish and corals on no notice. When we were kids, our parents took us up to the Uintas to fish at a few of the lakes up there. I remember that our old station wagon caught fire making the climb. It was the only time I went up there with Jeremiah. I remember Jeremiah giving me a ride to high school in his jeep and blasting his music as loud as he could. I remember us pooling our Christmas money together as kids so we could get Mortal Kombat 2. I remember playing Goldeneye with Jeremiah. I remember Jeremiah coming home one day with a Sega Dreamcast and playing it. I will miss Jeremiah asking me about what video games were cool or asking me about comic book movies. I will also miss going to the movies with him among tons of other things.

Our parents remember him as a kind loving son that frustrated them at times but always tried to do right by them. With one of his last work bonuses, he put thousands of dollars worth of meat in our freezers. With his last work bonus, he bought a used car for himself but basically gave it to our dad. He was the closest with our dad. I think he considered our dad to be his best friend. But he loved our mom too.

Colton remembers him for day trips to go fishing in the Uintas where he would feed chipmunks chips and catch as many fish as he could. Jeremiah loved stopping and getting smoked fish at a little hole in the wall place if they got done fishing in time. Colton remembers Jeremiah buying season tickets for the Utah Blaze for their first couple of seasons and going to all but one game. Jeremiah would stay after the games to get them autographs, Colton even met Thurl Bailey because Jeremiah was so dedicated to getting autographs. Jeremiah loved talking about Utes games and talking about the "holy war" months before the game would happen. Colton also credits Jeremiah with reinvigorating the family tradition of fourth of July breakfast. Colton enjoyed Black Friday shopping where Jeremiah would map out Walmart and place people all over the store so he could get his kids everything he could. Colton also reminisced about all of the small business ideas that never quite panned out for Jeremiah. Though Jeremiah wasn't always the easiest person to be around he would do his best to show his affection through gifts and other random acts.

Jeremiah suffered from mental illness and wrestled with a lot of personal demons. Last year he spent a month during the holidays living at my place in my front room after a visit to Davis Hospital. In hindsight this was a precursor to what would eventually take his life. I remember how annoyed and frustrated I was that he was there but he did get better.

At the beginning of September, my dad took Jeremiah to McKay-Dee Hospital at Jeremiah's request. After several hours, Jeremiah was checked in and given a bed. He was then sedated. Over the next few weeks, our parents and his daughter visited Jeremiah several times. They were informed that his liver and kidneys were failing due to heavy drinking and that he did not have much time left. On September 17th, our parents were asked to come to the hospital because Jeremiah's condition had worsened. At about 7:15 PM on the 17th, Jeremiah died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by his parents and kids.

We all miss him a great deal and hope he is finally at peace.