A lifelong love of nature inspires lasting gifts
Barbara Butcher spent much of her childhood in Waukegan looking up. Binoculars in hand, she explored her backyard and the Lake County Forest Preserves, learning on her own to identify birds. That self-driven curiosity grew into a lifelong passion.
“My mom taught me gardening and how to ride a horse,” Butcher said. “She put up some feeders, but she couldn’t identify birds.”
Her mother, Marilyn, became her longtime companion on outdoor adventures. For more than four decades, they explored forest preserves, searched the treetops and traveled together.
“My mom was my rock,” Butcher said.
Long before birding and conservation gained widespread popularity, they were central to Butcher’s life. After retiring as an administrative assistant at Naval Station Great Lakes, she devoted even more time to the trails.
“Nature brings me peace and joy. Study after study shows how healing it can be. I’d rather be outdoors than anywhere else,” she said.
Technology holds little appeal; computers, email and social media aren’t part of her life. Like many dedicated birders, she prefers observing birds to photographing them.
After decades of finding joy in the forest preserves, Butcher wanted to create something meaningful within them. Through the Preservation Foundation, the charitable partner of the Lake County Forest Preserves, she dedicated three trailside benches. Each features a personalized plaque honoring a loved one, a memory or a special connection.
“The forest preserves have brought so much joy to my life,” she said.
Her first bench, at Sedge Meadow Forest Preserve in Wadsworth, honors her mother, who died at 82. Its simple inscription reads, “Mom / We Miss You / Rest in Peace.”
Butcher deliberately left her mother’s name off the bench.
“We all have a mom,” she said. She hopes anyone who stops to rest might think of their own mother. “It’s then their bench, too.”
A second bench at Pine Dunes Forest Preserve in Antioch honors Butcher’s six dogs, whom she calls “her girls,” and lists each by name. A third, placed at a scenic overlook at the same preserve, honors all animals. Its inscription reads, “Be Kind to All Creatures / Great and Small — / The Lord God Made Them All.”
Her most enduring gift will extend beyond the benches. Butcher has included the Preservation Foundation in her will, donating her home and 1.25-acre property to benefit the Forest Preserves. The land borders a preserve she has explored and treasured for more than 30 years.
Her yard reflects the landscape she wants preserved. Native plants surrounding her home provide food and habitat for wildlife. Walking through the expansive garden, Butcher proudly points out a black swallowtail butterfly among the many visitors.
“My mind is at peace when I’m out here,” Butcher said, noting that she loves weeding and the sense of accomplishment it brings. “I call gardening playing in the dirt.”
Animals often watch her work, and she talks to the rabbits that wander into the yard. “I hope you’re having a good day,” she tells them.
By leaving her property to the Forest Preserves, Butcher is turning a place she loves into a legacy for future generations, a reflection of her belief in shared stewardship.
“I think it’s every human being’s responsibility to take care of the Earth,” she said.
Create your will for free at LCFPD.org/freewill. To learn more about supporting the Lake County Forest Preserves, visit LCFPD.org/donate.
• Kim Mikus is the media and community relations specialist at the Lake County Forest Preserves. She writes a column about various aspects of the preserves. Contact her at kcroke@LCFPD.org.