Lindsay Butte West, 83, of Blacksburg, VA, died on Friday, Feb. 2 at Warm Hearth Village. Lindsay was born on July 28, 1934 in San Juan, Puerto Rico and spent her childhood in Venezuela, Oklahoma, Whidbey Island, and Chappaqua, NY. She earned a B.A. from Radcliffe College in 1956.
Lindsay married David West in New York City in 1958 and moved with him to Blacksburg in 1962. Lindsay and David and their family lived in and restored an 1840 brick farmhouse on three acres in town, which includes a portion of Stroubles Creek. David and Lindsay placed an historic and open-space easement on the entire property, ensuring its preservation for future generations.
During her 56 years in Blacksburg, Lindsay was committed to making her community a better place, both socially and environmentally. Her service to Blacksburg and Montgomery County, as well as her work on civil rights, social justice, and the arts continued up until her passing. After a lifetime of service, the Montgomery County-Radford City-Floyd County Branch of the NAACP honored her with its annual Nannie B. Hairston Community Service Award in 2011.
She was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in 1976 and served for 12 years, including terms as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman. Her time on the Board was characterized by her effort to improve town-county relationships. She represented the Board on the Montgomery County Social Services Board, the New River Community Action Board, and the Montgomery County Public Service Authority. While on the Board of Supervisors, she also served on the state Local Government Advisory Council and the Local Government Advisory Committee of the Governor’s Commission of Transportation.
After she left the Board she continued to provide leadership to the county’s social services efforts through her work with New River Community Action, and was instrumental in helping form the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. She remained active in politics, chairing the Democratic Party in Montgomery County for ten years. More recently, she served on the Virginia State Board of Behavior Health and Developmental Services as both a member and Chairman for Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.
As part of her commitment to the restoration of downtown Blacksburg, Lindsay oversaw the successful renovation of the Lyric Theatre serving as the Lyric Council’s first Chairman. Both Lindsay and her husband David were directly involved in the vision, design, construction, recruitment of donors, and fiscal supervision required for re-creating the historically authentic theatre.
Lindsay was preceded in death by her parents, Woodfin Butte and Patricia McMurray Butte; her sister Beverley Grogan; her brother John Butte; her husband David West; and her son Peter West.
She is survived by her sister, Jeannette Butte Carr and husband Robert of Ann Arbor, MI; Peter West’s wife Katherine Hood of Brooklyn, NY; her son Roger and wife Deborah of Silver Spring, MD; and her daughter Susan West Marmagas and husband William of Blacksburg, VA. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Nicholas, Daniel and Tyler West and Tasia and Elektra Marmagas.
Friends are invited to visit at the Alexander Black House in Blacksburg on Friday, Feb. 9 from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Lindsay’s memorial will be held on Saturday Feb. 10 at the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg at 11:30 a.m. with a reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the Community Foundation of the New River Valley for the Lindsay B. West Administrative Endowment, P.O. Box 6009, Christiansburg, VA 24068-6009 or online at cfnrv.org/donate. Arrangements
by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg, Va.
