Andrew ‘Drew’ Henry Buttery

Andrew “Drew” Henry Buttery, 17, of Llano died Sept. 30, 2012. He was born Feb. 27, 1995, to Angela Renee (Johnson) Buttery and John David Buttery in Austin. He was a lifetime resident of Llano and a member of the Lutie Watkins Memorial United Methodist Church.

He was a senior at Llano High School, where he not only excelled scholastically but also was active in extracurricular activities. He served as president of the National Honor Society, president of the high school band and vice president of the Student Council.  As a member of the State Championship University Interscholastic League Spelling and Vocabulary Team this past spring, he received a fourth-place state individual award.

He also was a member of the high school debate team and a national qualifier of the CX Debate. His PSAT score earned him status as a National Merit Commended Scholar, and his SAT scores for college acceptance were in the Top 1 percent of the nation, with perfect scores in both reading and writing. He was recently named an AP Scholar and was ranked third in his class.

In 2011, he was chosen as one of two members of his class to represent Llano High at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference held at the University of Texas. This past summer, he participated in the Texas Boys State Conference, where he was elected mayor of his city, which he viewed as the most exciting position in the conference. Additionally, he loved to write and recently won a multi-county essay contest sponsored by Central Texas Electric Cooperative, which awarded him a trip to Washington, D.C.

He played saxophone in the school’s Yellow Jacket Band and earned a chair on both the Regional and Area Bands.

In addition to his focus on school, he was also involved in community service. In 2009 and 2010, he participated in the church-sponsored mPACT Program — or Maximum Impact — which helps needy families with domestic tasks. During 2011, he helped with the Student Council-sponsored “Backpacks for Buddies,” which provides a weekend meal for members of the Llano student body, and he also served as an after-school tutor four days a week.

Last summer, he was a member of the Costa Rica Mission Team, working to construct an orphanage.

Even outside of the classroom, he was a bookworm and spent many hours each week reading. He enjoyed laughing with friends and possessed a quick wit. He had an insatiable curiosity about the world and deep sense of empathy for others — a humanist with high ideals who had a way to make everyone feel valued.

He was extremely close to his family and enjoyed nightly meals at the table as well as family outings and vacations. He had become very comfortable with his role as a big brother and set an excellent example for his sibling, who loved him deeply and looked up to him.

Survivors include his parents; brother Heath Joseph Buttery of Llano; maternal grandfather Merritt Johnson and wife Diane of Longview; maternal grandmother Martha Hunt and husband James of Longview; aunt Brenda Durst and husband Dusty of Llano; aunt Jean Wallace and husband Harold of Edmond, Okla.; uncle William Buttery and wife Becky of Llano; uncle Marshall Johnson of Los Angeles; cousins Travis Allen and wife Dawna of Dallas,Troy Allen of Llano, Kristin Wallace of Oklahoma City, Okla., and Michael Wallace of Stillwater, Okla.; and a loving extended family.

He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Henry and Norma Buttery.

A “Tribute to Drew,” organized by the Llano youth, was held Oct. 3 at Lutie Watkins Methodist.

A visitation was Oct. 4 at Lutie Watkins Methodist.

A funeral service was Oct. 5 at the Llano High auditorium with Stan Troy and Dick West officiating.

Pallbearers included Levi Bailey, Matthew Center, Zach Morgan, Jacob Thomsen, John Winn and Caleb Wright.

Honorary pallbearers were the Llano High Class of 2013.

Burial followed in Llano City Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Andrew H. Buttery Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Llano National Bank.

Funeral arrangements by Waldrope-Hatfield-Hawthorne Funeral Homes, 307 E. Sandstone in Llano, (325) 247-4300.

Email whhfuneral1@verizon.net or visit www.whhfuneralhome.com for online condolences.