Irvin T. “Butch” Callery, who served as mayor for two Northern Kentucky cities, died Sunday. He was 83.
His lifetime of public service sprang from an effort to keep his beloved Covington neighborhood, Latonia, safe from pollution.
In the late 1970s Callery was worried about how a proposal to build coal docks on the Licking River could affect neighbors’ health. He helped organize the Citizens of All Latonia, or “No Coal” neighborhood group to oppose the docks and won.
After that, he decided to continue his public service as an elected official.
Callery served on the Covington City Commission from 1980 through 2000 and was the mayor of Covington from 2001 through 2008. He was also mayor of Villa Hills from 2015 through 2018.
“Butch first entered politics as a fierce advocate for the Latonia neighborhood and wound up giving decades of his life to the residents of this community,” Covington Mayor Joe Meyer said in a statement from the city. “His love for Covington was rivaled only by his love for his wife, Joyce, to whom he was married for almost 52 years, and perhaps to the Cincinnati Reds.”
‘He had a beautiful spirit’
Patrick Crowley, who covered Northern Kentucky politics for The Enquirer from 1994 to 2009, called Callery a true public servant, who never forgot the neighbors he represented.
“He was just as comfortable meeting in the office of a major developer as he was in the city’s taverns, restaurants, fish fries, neighborhoods meetings and Legion halls,” Crowley said, “talking about riverfront development as easily as baseball.”
With 29 years in office in Covington, he is thought to have been the longest-serving elected official in the city’s history. He is also one of the few people – if not the only person – to have served as mayor of two cities in Northern Kentucky. He was named the “Elected Official of the Year” in 2017 by the Kentucky League of Cities.
Chuck Eilerman, a Covington city commissioner from 2013 through 2016, didn’t serve at the same time as Callery but said everyone knew Callery because he was always around, and because of his “perennial” smile.
“He had a beautiful spirit and set a standard for public service. I was so honored to know him,” Eilerman said.
Callery was known for his creative solutions to city problems.
In 1987, he suggested Covington sell its potholes for Valentine’s Day. For a fee, sweethearts could paint their names or initials on the patched-over area of the road.
He also wanted to recognize the city’s famous residents, such as composer James Haven Gillespie, who wrote the Christmas classic “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” A marker for Gillespie was unveiled in Goebel Park in 1988.
Callery was the operations manager at Conners and Co., Inc, a Cincinnati investment securities firm where he worked for 34 years.
An avid athlete, Callery was both player and coach in Northern Kentucky
Callery played baseball and softball for much of his life, from 1952 to 2004.
Among the proud moments were when he had tryouts in 1962 for both the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Callery was a member of the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame. He was also involved in building the Bill Cappel Sports Complex, an expansive park with playing fields in Latonia.
He often sponsored and coached boys and girls teams in baseball, softball, soccer and basketball for years.
Callery was a member of Holy Cross Parish in Latonia, according to the family’s obituary. He is survived by a daughter, three sons, eight grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren, according to his obituary. His wife, Joyce, died in 2019.
Crowley said Callery will be remembered fondly because of who he was just as much as what he achieved:.
“Butch Callery got into politics not because of ego or because he wanted or needed attention,” Crowley said. “He got into politics because he loved Covington and he wanted to make it better.”
Services for Butch Callery
Visitation begins at 4 p.m. Thursday. A eulogy is scheduled for 5:50 p.m., followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 6 p.m. at Holy Cross Church, 3612 Church St., Covington.
Interment and Committal Service is set for 10 a.m. Friday Aat 10 a.m. at Mother of God Cemetery, 3125 Madison Ave., Fort Wright. Arrangements are handled by Connley Brothers Funeral Home.
Memorials are suggested to: St. Walburg Monastery, 2500 Amsterdam Road, Villa Hills, KY 41017.
