Louis Buttacavoli

April 12, 1941-June 4, 2022

Son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Louis Buttacavoli, passed away on June 4, 2022, at home in Austin, TX with his family. Born in 1941 and raised in Brooklyn, NY, he joined the Air Force at 18, where he began his life-long work as an aircraft mechanic. Stationed in Morocco, and then England, in 1962 he met and married his British bride, Myra, in Suffolk, England. They came to Brooklyn and lived in the basement apartment of his parents' home in Canarsie (the then-Italian section of Brooklyn) where their first daughter, Eva, was born. They they then moved to Hollywood, FL, where second daughter, Dianne, was born and later settled in Miami, FL. Louis worked for Eastern Airlines in Miami for 26 years and Commodore Aviation for the following 10 years before he retired, living in Miami for a total of 40 years.

A natural and avid runner (which he first took up on a dare from Myra) from his late 30s until just last year, many early family weekends and vacations were scheduled around him competing and often winning first and second place in his age-group and running a total of 23 marathons, with an impressive 3-hour finish as his all-time personal best. Working for Eastern Airlines afforded his family many memorable vacations across the U.S. and Europe, including an unforgettable trip to Sicily to reconnect with his extended family and to visit the birthplace of his grandfather.

Louis also had an affinity for turtles-from the first box turtle that landed in their backyard after a hurricane in 1975, through the many years of early morning sea turtle patrols on the beach at Biscayne Bay, to the peak of taking care of ## turtles at once, to their very last turtle, "Judy," who just passed away this year-he was always the "guy with the turtles." But the turtles couldn't compare to his affection for first the cats, then the dogs he rescued, trained, and ran with through the years. (It is one of the family's greatest comforts now, whether one believes or not, to imagine he is with cats Jessie, Cassius, Samson, Rufus, Algernon, Maybelline, Valerie, Lila, Gabby, and William; and dogs Coco, Dreyfus, and Attila).

In 1992, after years of diligently preparing their Miami home each hurricane season, Louis and his family made it through Hurricane Andrew, the category 5-and one of the most destructive-hurricanes in history. After a few weeks without electricity and months living in a trailer on their lot, they were able to re-build their dream house and garden. In 2006, he and Myra followed their daughters to Austin, Texas, where he lived for 16 years. He happily soaked up Austin culture-checking out the music scene, driving his prized 1985 Porsche 911 around the Hill Country, tending to the garden, pool, and purple martin houses in their beautiful Onion Creek Home, and running around the neighborhood with his beloved Australian Shepherd mix, Attila, and for the past 9 years, his yellow-lab mix, Sparky. He also loved exploring Central Texas' hiking trails with some of his best buddies who call themselves The "Fugowies"-a made-up name short for either or both (the origin is fuzzy) where "the-f**k are we?" or "Fuhgeddaboudit/(forget about it!)" -affectionately mimicking Lou's Brooklyn accent. He wasn't from Texas, as the song says, but Texas loved him anyway.

He was always the most well-groomed, most in-shape, best-dressed, and best-smelling man in the room. He kept a running diary 40 years, every day noting the type of warmup, the weather, the distance he ran and his time, as well as who he was with, how he felt, and always a sweet note about a random observation on his route. He picked Myra a hibiscus from their garden in Miami every day and got her the mushiest anniversary card every year. He had a beautiful singing voice. He had a deep knowledge of airplanes, WWII history, movies and character actors, and rock and roll. He loved cold beer, good bourbon, thin-slice pizza, and Myra's marinara sauce and her chicken soup with rice. For his 75th birthday, his friends threw him a party and got him a t-shirt that he wore proudly; and folks that know him, still mention, it said "Louis, The Man, The Myth, The Legend."

The family is thankful for their extended family and friends for their love and support during this difficult time. Eva and Dianne are also grateful to their spouses and colleagues for their support so they could literally move back home and be with their dad for the last 5 weeks of his life. The family also wishes to thank Brookdale Hospice Austin, particularly Nurse Sheryl and CNA Aravia; and the nursing staff, especially Nurse Cheryl, BMT/Oncology, at St. David's-South Austin.

In lieu of flowers, if you wish to make a gift in Louis' name, please consider making a donation to the Austin Animal Center. Attn: Donations in name of Louis Buttacavoli.