Those who knew William G. “Bill” Douthett III remember his dedication to Rotary and his church, his clothing store on Main Street, and having a tongue-in-cheek golf trophy named after him, but to his son, Douthett was a caring and involved dad.

“He gave us a good foundation in right and wrong, but even more, in just how to treat people,” said David Douthett.

Douthett, who would have turned 95 on Sunday, July 28, lived independently at his home before spending 10 days in Butler Memorial Hospital, then five days at Concordia at Cabot, where he died July 25.

“Before any nurses or aides did anything for him, he made sure to thank them,” David said.

He said as his vision declined, his father could still use the computer keyboard by memory and had voice control over some devices to make his life less frustrating.

“Our daughter, Meredith, came up from Pittsburgh to help him, and he was not shy about accepting her help,” said Molly Douthett, David’s wife.

Douthett graduated from Butler High School in 1947, and operated Douthett and Graham men’s clothing store, founded by his grandfather and his partner in 1893, at four downtown locations, including one at 108 S. Main St., where he eventually closed shop in 1972.

He operated The Store on Main Street at the building for several more years before selling it in April 2017.

It was at Douthett and Graham, in 1957, that Douthett joined the Butler Rotary Club.

He immersed himself in Rotary’s dedication to service, fellowship, diversity, integrity, and leadership, and many would say Butler is better off for it.

The longtime Rotarian participated in a pennies for the children fundraiser in 1959 that encouraged residents to line the sidewalks of downtown Butler with donated pennies to fill the organization's coffers.

“He was born here and this was his home, so he wanted to provide the best he could for Butler,” Molly Douthett said.

David Douthett said his father’s generation was more civic-minded than those that followed.

David also credited a liberal arts education at Westminster College and his involvement with Saint Andrew United Presbyterian Church as having affected his beliefs about community.

“We are here to be a part of the community and to build each other up,” he said.

David said in his father’s younger years, he loved playing basketball with him and his late brother, William G. Douthett IV. Douthett also tried to get the boys interested in his most beloved hobby: golf.

“He got my brother and I out to play early (in life),” David said. “Neither of us were ever as good as he was.”

Douthett also shared his passion for astronomy with his sons.

“Dad taught me the night sky when I was young,” David said. “He would wake us up to see a lunar eclipse or other phenomenon.”

He said Douthett could identify all the local birds by sight or song as well.

“He had a deep love of nature,” David said.

Douthett was involved in his sons’ activities like DeMolay, sports and Boy Scouts.

“He was always supportive of the things we were doing,” David said.

Asked what he hopes those who knew his father will remember about him as time goes by, David Douthett pointed to his dad’s big heart and unflagging integrity.

“And that he was a man of faith, absolutely trusting in God’s providence,” David said.

He said his father also possessed a dry wit that reflected his worldview.

“He was often cynical, but that was the flip side of his compassion for humanity,” David said. “He knew we could be doing better.”

He said his father had two great loves in his life; his mother, Helen Faust Douthett, to whom he was married for 40 years before her passing, and his surviving companion, Clare Oskin, who he met in 2002 and who kept him busy and moving in his later years.

“She gave him purpose and companionship,” Molly Douthett said. “She loves us, and we love her.”

One aspect of Douthett’s life that cannot be ignored is both whimsical and serious in nature.

The local Rotary district held a golf competition each year whose winner would play the victor in an identical golf competition of a Rotary district in Dundee, Scotland.

Beginning in 1962, the championship match alternated each year between a course in the local Rotary district and a course in the Scottish Rotary district.

The winner would receive the Jackson-Christy Porridge Bowl, which was named for two members of the far-flung Rotary districts who met on happenstance and became fast friends.

When Douthett and his wife visited Dundee in 1965, Douthett heard from his Scottish Rotary peers that there originally was to be a spoon to accompany the porridge bowl with the name of the runner-up in the two-man competition

Douthett played for the Jackson-Christy Porridge Bowl in both 1965 and 1966 — with the latter game ending in a tie and requiring another nine holes to determine a winner.

“On the 27th hole, the Porridge Bowl returned to Scotland,” Douthett wrote dejectedly in a booklet he authored entitled “The Jackson-Christy Bowl: A Tribute to Thirty Years of International Goodwill and Understanding.”

But his spirits were lifted upon learning the runner-up spoon, ostensibly a porridge ladle, would be named “The Douthett Dipper.”

“In two years time, I had managed to be the first overseas visitor to lose in the Porridge Bowl final and also the first to lose twice and to have the runner-up’s trophy named in my honor. But there are no losers in this,” Douthett wrote in his booklet. “I had gained the opportunity to meet and get to know Rotarians from around the world.”

Douthett’s caring, intellectual and amusing personality earned him many friends over the years who will miss having him in their lives.

Vernon L. Wise Jr., whose family founded and continues to own the Butler Eagle, said he and Douthett have a unique and lengthy connection.

“There’s not many people who can say that they have been lifelong friends,” Wise said. “Our mothers were friends, so our friendship started as toddlers and lasted 94 years.”

Ron Vodenichar, the recently retired publisher at the Eagle, called Douthett a stabilizing force within Rotary in Butler County for six decades.

“Not only was he a member and a past president himself, but he also assisted in the formation of other clubs in the district,” Vodenichar said. “He helped found the RichMar club in Mars and also was instrumental in starting a number of fellowships with Rotary International.”

He said Douthett and his family were a solid part of downtown business for many years, including the clothing store and Douthett’s continued work at his The Store on Main, even in retirement.

“Always a class gentleman and a willing mentor to all, Bill will be missed by all of those whom he touched,” Vodenichar said.

Millie Pinkerton, of Butler, said she and her late husband, former county Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, participated in the couples golf exchange that resulted from the Porridge Bowl.

Couples from the local Rotary district would travel to Scotland to play and vice versa.

Pinkerton treasures a photograph of her late husband, Douthett and other Rotary golfers posing in their kilts at a course in Scotland.

She also recalled Douthett’s unwavering dedication to Rotary over the years, where he and Dale Pinkerton served as president multiple times.

“He was the oldest living member of our Rotary club,” Pinkerton said.

But mainly, Pinkerton will most miss the man who was her friend through thick and thin for many decades.

“He was really just a nice man. He was always a gentleman,” she said. “It’s a great loss to the community, Rotary and his church.”

Pinkerton also admired Douthett’s determination to soldier on as age stole the abilities the young take for granted.

“That’s the kind of guy he was,” she said. “He kept going until he couldn’t go anymore.”