Milan '54 Team Loses Another; Glen Butte Passes Away At 81

Butte died at his home in Batesville on Saturday.

Photo provided.

(Batesville, Ind.) – A member of Milan’s iconic 1954 State Championship team has died.

Glen Butte passed away at his home in Batesville on Saturday. He was 81.

Butte's legacy will certainly always be tied to being a member of the Milan 1954 State Championship team, but he lived a long and successful life after high school. He would go on to play at Indiana University under legendary coach Branch McCracken and was eventually inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame.

Aside from his successes on the basketball floor, Butte was also the first in his family to earn a college degree.

Following college, Butte moved back to southeastern Indiana and married his high school sweetheart, Dixie. They remained married for 59 years and had two children and two grandchildren.

His education led him down a path to becoming a teacher and basketball coach in Moores Hill, Dillsboro and Orleans, before he settled in Batesville as a high school administrator. 

Butte would go on to receive the Sagamore of Wabash Award from former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. The award is the highest honor an Indiana governor gives and has been awarded to the likes of David Letterman and Jeff Gordon.

In his later years, Butte would spend time sharing stories from his playing days at the Milan '54 Hoosiers Museum. 

Community members are asked to make donations in Butte’s name to the Milan ‘54 Hoosiers Museum. The goal is $55,000, in honor of Butte’s number “55”.

Funeral services have yet to be announced.