Mary Buttermark and her husband, Lou, celebrated their 60th anniversary on Nov. 9, 2013. (Staten Island Advance/Irving Silverstein)Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — He was a consummate golfer and masterful when it came to the game’s rules of etiquette and inherent challenges.

With a true passion for the sport, he reveled in spending time outdoors amid the beauty that is nature, on lush green fairways with panoramic views — and in the camaraderie and companionship that went hand in hand with the age-old sport he played energetically at the Richmond County Country Club Golf Course, where he was a longtime member.

But his greatest joy was family — his wife, Mary of 68 years, his five children and six grandchildren.

Louis L. Buttermark, a community leader and respected businessman of more than 60 years who built a family plumbing business, died Tuesday in Staten Island University Hospital. Mr. Buttermark would have turned 95 in August.

Deeply religious, Mr. Buttermark instilled in his children and grandchildren time-honored values and traditions.

Mr. Buttermark married the former Mary Frances Burns in Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church, New Dorp on Nov. 9, 1952, after meeting on a blind date arranged by George Ringhoff, a friend of Mr. Buttermark’s and Mrs. Buttermark’s brother-in-law.

He always spoke volumes of his wife, an Advance Woman of Achievement, who died in December 2020, calling her the most wonderful person that anyone could know.

Louis Buttermark is recognised as his wife Mary is honored during the 2012 Staten Island Advance Women of Achievement luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn Thursday, April 4, 2013. (Staten Island Advance/ Bill Lyons)Staten Island Advance

“We had a wonderful marriage of 68 years,” he once said. “She was a tremendous wife, mother, business partner and friend to everyone. She never stopped working and helping others. She will be missed by all. She was strong in her beliefs and brought her ideas and suggestions home... We will miss her terribly.”

Louis and Mary Buttermark on their wedding day, Nov. 9, 1952. (Courtesy/Sanders Studios)

Known to all as “Lou,” he sat at the helm of Louis Buttermark & Sons, plumbing and heating contractors in New Dorp.

Louis J. Buttermark, son of the elder Buttermark, explained both sets of grandparents were plumbing contractors and his maternal grandfather and maternal great-grandfather were New York State licensed master plumbers, having owned James Burns Plumbing in Great Kills.

So it wasn’t unusual that his mom would marry Louis Buttermark, a successful master plumber. The business has operated on Staten Island for more than 60 years and was a family affair from the very beginning.

Mr. Buttermark, who had spent several years learning his trade, branched out on his own on the day he received his license. It was the day after his 33rd birthday.

“I kept a $1 bill from what I earned on the first job,” Mr. Buttermark remembered. “I did the work at a doctor’s house in Richmond Town. He recalled he changed galvanized pipe to brass pipe.

Soon Mr. Buttermark operated from his home in West Brighton and got his first major plumbing job: Six duplexes going up between Beacon and Summit avenues in Egbertville.

He took on an apprentice within a few months of opening for business.

During his first year, Mr. Buttermark was hired to work on a development of 75 housing units in Dongan Hills. “From there, everything got going,” he said.

Louis Buttermark, retired founder of Louis Buttermark Plumbing & Heating, seated with wife Mary. Behind them are their sons, standing left to right, Louis, Paul and David. (Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores)Staten Island Advance

In 1964, the year the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened, Mr. Buttermark relocated his office from a small store in West Brighton to the firm’s current site in New Dorp.

And as Staten Island grew, so did Mr. Buttermark’s company.

“That’s exactly what happened,” he said, citing the building boom that followed completion of the Verrazano.

His philosophy on doing business? “I’ve always told my sons you can’t please everybody all the time, but you must do your best to please your customers as best you can.”

Mr. Buttermark retired 20 years ago, turning over the company to the couple’s three sons, Louis, Paul and David and with the addition of three grandsons, James Buttermark and Mario and Nicholas Naccarato, it now makes five generations of plumbers working for the firm of Louis Buttermark & Sons, Inc. But that didn’t mean the family patriarch wasn’t still involved in the company’s major business decisions.

Mary and Louis Buttermark, sitting third and second from right, and their children and grandchildren during a celebratory dinner for Mary's 90th birthday in LaFontana Restaurant, Oakwood. (Courtesy/Buttermark family)

Louis Buttermark is escorted down the aisle by his daughters, Kim Buttermark and Jill Cavallo at the wedding of Alyssa Buttermark Reardon. (Courtesy/Alyssa Buttermark)Staten Island Advance

“My father was a plumber working for his father when my parents met. And my mom pushed my father to get his plumbing license and they started the Louis L. Buttermark Inc. plumbing firm in 1961,” the younger Buttermark said.

Members of the Buttermark family at the wedding of Alyssa Buttermark and Jeffrey Reardon, sitting. Louis Buttermark is sitting to the left. (Courtesy/Alyssa Buttermark Reardon)Staten Island Advance

The firm excelled in areas of plumbing, heating and fire suppression (sprinkler) contracting in all five boroughs. The work includes industrial, commercial and residential jobs.

From the left, Debra Buttermark, Louis J Buttermark, Alyssa (Buttermark) Reardon, Louis L Buttermark, Jeffrey Reardon, James Buttrmark, Bridget McQuade, James's fiance. (Courtesy/Alyssa Buttermark Reardon)Staten Island Advance

He was surprised and pleased that each of his boys (the Buttermarks also have two daughters) decided to join the company.

Louis Buttermark and his daughters, Jill Cavallo and Kim Buttermark. (Courtesy/Jill Cavallo)Staten Island Advance

They’ve completed projects in Manhattan at Lincoln Center, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and other popular venues and in the other boroughs of New York City.

“You try to grow the company,” he said. Which is something his mother has witnessed for more than half a century. Mary Buttermark once stated with a smile, that her life has been plumbing.

Mr. Buttermark’s philosophy was,”You work hard and you get what you work for.’’

An attendee of both McKee Vocational High School and New Dorp High School, Mr. Buttermark went into the U.S. Merchant Marines in 1944, before he was able to receive his high school diploma.

He served a two-year tour during World War II in the South Pacific and Europe, serving as a seaman from 1944 to 1946 and sailing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.

At the North Central Kiwanis Salute to World War II Veterans at LiGreci’s Staaten, are Louis and Mary Buttermark, an Advance Woman of Achievement in the Class of 2012. (Staten Island Advance/Carol Ann Benanti) Staff-Shot

In 1950, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in Japan. He opened his business in 1961. He received certification in heating from the IBR Hydronic Heating School in Irvington, N.J., in 1962.

After military service, he served as an apprentice out of Local 371 with his father’s company, the former Richboro Plumbing and Heating Co., West Brighton.

Louis Buttermark dances with his daughter, Kim Buttermark, at the wedding of his granddaughter, Alyssa Buttermark Reardon. (Courtesy/Buttermark family)Staten Island Advance

Mr. Buttermark was a member of the New York City Homebuilders Association, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, past member of the New York City Council Master Plumbers Association, past member on the board of trustees of Local 371, Mariners Harbor, past member of the Island branch of the former Association of Plumbing Contractors and he is past president, past vice president and past member of the board of the Richmond County Plumbing Contractors Association.

During his term with the association, he chaired a high school scholarship program, was involved in negotiations with the plumbers’ union, Local 371, and oversaw the association’s annual Richmond County benefit golf outing for the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation.

Retired plumber Louis Buttermark at his Great Kills home. (Bill Lyons/ Staten Island Advance)Staten Island Advance

Mr. and Mrs. Buttermark were native Staten Islanders. Mr. Buttermark grew up in Concord and Dongan Hills.

He played semi-pro football and baseball on the Island before joining the Army, where he served in Tokyo from 1950 to 1952 as a private first class.

An honorary member of the New York City Master Plumbers Association, he received the Louis B. Miller Business Leadership Award from the Chamber of Commerce in 1997.

Longtime golf members of the Richmond County Country Club, where the game of golf became a family passion, Mr. Buttermark was affectionately nicknamed, “The Iron Man” and “The Wrench,” said his son-in-law, Joseph Cavallo, who added he was still feared as a competitor into his 90s and beat many players half his age.

Louis Buttermark on the course in 2010. (Staten Island Advance /Jan Somma-Hammel)

Amazingly, Mr. Buttermark shot his age or below his age 1,042 times, he said.

From the left, Kim Buttermark, Louis Buttermark and Jill and Joe Cavallo. (Courtesy/Jill Cavallo)Staten Island Advance

“Dad, you and i made a good team for the last 17 months with mom passing,” said daughter Kim Buttermark. “We kept up with your Wednesday and Saturday date nights which you truly loved. Now you can be with mom for every date night. Love you until I meet you both again.”

Daughter Jill Cavallo noted her dad was a devout Catholic, a true gentlemen and a hard worker who supported his family without question. “He enjoyed life to the fullest with his family and friends. Our dad was loved and will be sorely missed.”

Alyssa Buttermark Reardon and her husband, Jeffrey Reardon with grandfather, Louis Buttermark, at their wedding in April. (Courtesy/Alyssa Buttermark Reardon)Staten Island Advance

Longtime Advance writer and golf columnist Tom Flannagan said: “Louis was probably one of the greatest golfers I ever knew. He was always on the course, always played well and was always willing to talk about golf. He was a typical American father with his family. He ruled that family, as well as he played golf. He shot his age or better maybe 900 or more. He was well liked by an awful lot of people. Most of his family is in the business. James is an amateur champion in golf. The girls in the family are all good golfers. And he always made me feel welcome there as a writer. And even though he had back surgery, he still played his game. He loved the game. And he loved the people around him.”

Kim Buttermark and her dad, Louis Buttermark. (Courtesy/Jill Cavallo)Staten Island Advance

Louis Buttermark, center with his son, Louis J. Buttermark and grandson, James Buttermark. (Courtesy/Alyssa Buttermark Reardon)Staten Island Advance

The Buttermarks also enjoyed traveling and visited England, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, Rome, France, Greece, Turkey and Spain. They also went to Bermuda, Alaska, Hawaii and Aruba.

Louis Buttermark with his grandchildren, from the left, Mario Naccarato, Alyssa (Buttermark) Reardon, Louis L Buttermark, Tara Buttermark, James Buttermark, and Nicholas Naccarato.(Courtesy/Alyssa Buttermark Reardon)Staten Island Advance

Mr. Buttermark is survived by his son, Louis (Debbie) Buttermark, son Paul (Marie) Buttermark, son David (Marie), daughter Kim Buttermark, daughter Jill (Joe) Cavallo, and six grandchildren, James Buttermark, Alyssa Buttermark Reardon, Mario Naccarato, Tara Buttermark, Nicholas Naccarato, and Kristen Buttermark and his brother, John Buttermark. He was predeceased by his wife, Mary Buttermark.

Louis Buttermark and his granddaughters, Alyssa Buttermark Reardon and Tara Buttermark. (Courtesy/Alyssa Buttermark Reardon)Staten Island Advance

Louis Buttermark dances with his granddaughter, Alyssa Buttermark Reardon, at her wedding. (Courtesy/Alyssa Buttermark Reardon)Staten Island Advance

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Hanley Funeral Home, New Dorp. Visitation is Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m.

A mass of Christian burial is set for 10:15 a.m. Monday in St. Charles R.C. Church, Oakwood. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.

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