Josie Cinquemano Butler

It is with great sadness that the family of Josie Cinquemano Butler of Lake Charles announces her passing. Josie was 93 and departed this world on Sunday, August 11, 2024.

Josie was born to John and Lucy Cinquemano on February 8, 1931, in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating, she moved to Lake Charles and worked for the LA Department of Welfare for four years. During the Korean conflict, the local YMCA held dances for soldiers, where Josie met her husband, Bob Butler. They spent many nights at these dances and considered themselves to be very good dancers. They were married on April 3, 1954. After Bob was discharged, they moved to Michigan, where he was from, and they welcomed four beautiful children into their home. They returned to Lake Charles in 1971, and Josie went to work for Lake Charles Medical and Surgical, where she retired after 35 years.

Josie was a devout Catholic. She attended St. Margaret’s Catholic Church and served as a Eucharistic Minister. She also loved her church family at Trinity Baptist, where she made many wonderful friends. They welcomed her to sing with the group. She especially loved game days and traveling with her Trinity Church family. Out of all the trips they took, the trip to Italy was her most loved. Josie had a great spirit of adventure and was surprisingly daring and brave well into her 70’s and 80’s as she welcomed the opportunity to go hot air ballooning, parasailing and white-water rafting!

She was passionate about gathering all her family and friends to celebrate Easter and Thanksgiving. She always said, “It brought joy to her heart to have everyone together.”

Josie was preceded in death by her husband, Bob Butler; her daughter, Amy Ratliff and her grandson, Christopher Ratliff; her father and mother, John and Lucy Cinquemano; her sisters, Frances St. George and her husband Anthony, Vicki Carroll and her husband Bobby Carroll, and their son Bryce; and her brothers, Larry and Joe Cinquemano, along with her sister-in-law, Wanda Cinquemano.

She will be loved and missed by her surviving children: Sue Castor (Mike), John Butler and Anthony Butler (Dawn); her ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild and her baby brother, Anthony Cinquemano and sister-in-law, Karen Cinquemano; along with a host of nieces, nephews, and their families.

A Mass of Christian burial will be at 11:00 AM Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at St. Margaret Catholic Church under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home. Interment services will follow at Consolata Cemetery. Visitation Tuesday will be from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM with a rosary beginning at 6:00 PM in the funeral home.

The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Missy and Denise of Heart of Hospice for their wonderful care and kindness.

“There are no goodbyes for us. We will always carry her memory in our hearts.”