Myrtis Butzman, mother of entertainer Becky Allen, dies at age 97
09-13-2010 Times Picayune
Submitted by N.O.V.A.


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Myrtis Butzman, a dynamo whose emphasis on exercise kept her on the go well into her 90s, died Saturday at
Harrah's New Orleans Casino after seeing her daughter, entertainer Becky Allen, perform in a comedy show.
She was 97.

"She looked great," Allen said. "She went out on a Saturday night. That's the big day, and she was dressed
fabulously."

The two were fixtures of New Orleans nightlife, and Ms. Butzman never missed one of her daughter's openings.

"She was a woman in her 90s, dressed in high heels, going to an opening in a nightclub or a dive," said
David Cuthbert, a former Times-Picayune theater critic. "No matter what, there was Myrtis."

"My mother loved excitement and fun," Allen said. "She was a great believer that if you get yourself up and
dress yourself up, someone will ask you to go somewhere."

Ms. Butzman credited her stamina to more than 70 years of exercising, generally five days a week. To pare
off the weight she had gained when she and her daughter evacuated to Jackson, Miss., during Hurricane
Katrina, Ms. Butzman attended three exercise classes a day, and she was proud of her ability to touch her
toes without bending her knees and lift a leg straight above her head.

While the two women were in Jackson, Ms. Butzman went to a meeting of women over age 50, and the talk turned
to crocheting.

"I'm 92," she said in a 2005 interview, "and I told them I'm going to learn to crochet when I'm old."

"If you look up 'joie de vivre' in the dictionary, Myrtis Butzman's picture should be right there," said
Carl Walker, a theater director who has worked frequently with Allen.

Ms. Butzman, who was born Myrtis Merle Moore, grew up in Canton, Miss. When the New Orleans Pelicans
baseball team came to town, she met pitcher Jonas Butzman, whom she wound up marrying.

Ms. Butzman worked as a substitute teacher, a librarian and real estate agent.

"She liked to work," Allen said. "She even drove a bookmobile for a little while. She said, 'They gave me
three lessons, but I couldn't back up.' "

The Butzmans lived in Metairie Heights. Ms. Butzman loved theater, her daughter said, and when young Becky
showed an aptitude for entertaining, her mother signed her up for classes in singing, dancing, baton
twirling, trumpet and piano.

"She taught me how to manage my time," Allen said.

But, Cuthbert said, Ms. Butzman was no monster of a stage mother who was determined that her child was going
to hit the big time.

"She was completely supportive," he said.

And Ms. Butzman snagged some fame for herself. Because of her vitality and exercise regimen, Peoples Health
put her in its commercials, which have been aired not only on television but at the Superdome during Saints
games.

As a result, Ms. Butzman was posing for pictures and signing autographs in Harrah's theater minutes before
she collapsed, Allen said.

Ms. Butzman "enjoyed life," Cuthbert said. "She just wanted to grasp it and get whatever she could out of
it."

In addition to Allen, survivors include a son, Jonas Butzman Jr.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.