Allan Armstrong Butler
28th February 1932 – 10th August 2021
Allan was born in Sunderland to parents David and Esther. He was brought up in a working-class north-east shipyard family. Allan suffered from childhood polio at age 7 which affected him for the rest of his life. As an 11-year-old, he won a scholarship to Bede Grammar School, Sunderland, where he started his lifelong interest in languages.
He went up to Queens’ College in 1950 to read modern and medieval languages. This was an exceptional achievement for someone of his background at that time. Allan also spent around 2 years traveling in France and Italy in the early 1950s, including working in both countries as an English teacher.
Allan returned to his hometown of Sunderland and worked as a modern languages teacher at Southmoor School. He married local girl, Nancy, in 1957.
Allan spent his whole professional career at Southmoor, where he became Head of Languages. He was an early adopter of the use of IT in education in the 1980s. He taught himself computer programming and developed software for use in schools. In his later career he also worked as a consultant to examination boards.
He had a life-long love for the study and teaching of languages. He learnt both Mandarin and Arabic in later years. Allan was a hugely popular and greatly admired teacher. Former pupils often approached Allan and his family to tell them what a fantastic teacher; lovely man; and huge influence on their life he had been.
Allan was a devoted and loving son, husband, father and grandfather. He cared for his widowed mother for many years. Allan was a widower leaving three children: Chris, Kathryn and Caroline; and four grandchildren: Charlotte, Sophie, Christopher and James.
Chris Butler
31st August 2021
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