Lois J. (Mercier) Buttlar

Lois Jacqueline Buttlar, age 88, of Kent, OH went to be with her Lord, after an extended illness, on Monday, February 27, 2023 in the comfort of her home.  She was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 13, 1934 to the late Louis Edward Mercier and Florence Edna (Maas) Mercier.

She attended Gallistel Elementary School, Bowen High School and completed two years at Wheaton College (1953-1954).  Lois and her loving husband Rudolph were married in 1955.  They welcomed three sons into the family: Michael in 1959, Andrew in 1961, and John in 1964.

After a move to Kent, Ohio in 1962, Lois became part of a five-family team that started Grace Baptist Church, where she served since its inception in 1964.  In the early years, she produced the order of service, typed the bulletin, and ran-it-off on an old donated mimeograph machine, even assisted with the janitorial services and housed and entertained visiting dignitaries.  For a time, she was Church Librarian, but she served many years as a nursery worker, deaconess and as a critical consultant and editor for material written by her husband for Adult Fellowship Classes and for administrative purposes.

Lois enjoyed reading, studying the bible, orchestra concerts, light opera, plays, old hymns, creating photo albums, cooking, celebrating and vacationing with her family.  Since she had placed her faith in Christ as a young girl, she had developed a servant’s heart.  Her mother lived with the family for about 16 years after Lois’ father died, while her mother-in-law, Lucille (Blasnig) Buttlar, lived nearby in Kentway Independent Senior Living Apartments, for about 13 years after the death of Lois’ father-in-law, Otto Robert Buttlar.  She participated in the care of both until their deaths in 1998 and 1999, respectively.

She finished her B.S. in Education at Kent State University in 1971.  She went on to obtain the Masters of Library Science in 1975, and the Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in 1981.  She accepted a faculty appointment in The School of Library and Information Science in 1986 and achieved tenure and full professorship on the basis of her teaching excellence (Distinguished Teaching Award, 1995), her direction of student theses (over 400), and her extensive scholarly publishing record, by the time of her retirement in 1999.  Her scholarly interests included: Library management, academic libraries, social sciences information sources and services, introducing ethnicity and multiculturalism in libraries.  She continued teaching part-time as an Emeritus Professor for a few additional years.  She also held several non-faculty positions which are too numerous to list here.

She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Rudolph Otto Buttlar; by her sons: Michael Robert (Dana) Buttlar of Laguna Hills, CA, Andrew Scott Buttlar of Kent, OH, and John David Buttlar of Kent, OH; her brothers: Louis Mercier of Valparaiso, IN, Gerald Mercier of Hayden, ID.; and her grandchildren: Eden Zoe Buttlar of Laguna Hills, CA. and Noah Rudy Buttlar of Bushwyck, NY.; her nephews: David Mercier of Dyer, IN., Bob Elsner of Lincoln Park, MI, and Tom Elsner of Brownstown, MI.; her nieces: Laurel (Mercier) Hoekstra of Schererville, IN., Luana (Mercier) Davis of Munster, IN., Dawn (Mercier) Takody of Valparaiso, IN.; Kathy (Mercier) Greene of Athol, ID.; and several cousins.

She was preceded in death not only by her parents, Louis Edward Mercier and Florence Edna (Maas) Mercier but also by her sister Beverly E. (Mercier) Elsner and her brother-in-law George H. Elsner.

A memorial service will be held at Grace Baptist Church, 5915 Rhodes Rd., Kent, OH. 44240 on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.  In lieu of flowers, donations in her name can be made to Grace Baptist Church.

Lois’ family members would like to express their sincere gratitude to members and friends of Grace Baptist Church for their support and prayers and for everyone at UH Portage Medical Center, ProMedica Skilled Nursing & Physical Therapy, and ProMedica (formerly Heartland) Hospice for their wonderful, compassionate care given to Lois and to us.

Services under the care of Bissler and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory.