Lonnie S. Butler was born on April 16, 1939, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He attended grade school in Marks, Mississippi, before moving to Memphis, Tennessee at the age of thirteen.

In Memphis, Lonnie's already hard-working spirit was further nurtured by watching his mother, Eula Eason Jones, capture the American dream of home ownership. A significant achievement because it was a feat early 1950s societal conditions might normally place beyond the grasp of an African-American single mom. Even as an adolescent, Lonnie respected and appreciated how hard Eula worked to make a good life for Lonnie and for Vinetta Ann, his sister who is thirteen years his junior.

Since Eula left early each morning for work, Lonnie got Vinetta Ann ready for the day, made sure she ate the breakfast Eula left for them, and walked her to school. Desiring to spare his mother from any additional burdens, adolescent Lonnie always honored his self-initiated vow never to give his mother any trouble.

One night when Eula was ill, Lonnie worked her evening shift so the family would not lose the pay. Years later, as an adult, he often recounted how the evening's work had been so hard that he committed there and then to get enough education so that he would never again have to work so physically hard.

In Memphis, Lonnie attended Melrose High School. Inspired by a Melrose High coach, Frank Lewis, Lonnie began playing basketball. Lonnie excelled at the sport, becoming a star player of his high school. Such a star that the inexpensive khaki pants he wore to school because they were what he could afford to fit his approximately-6-feet-and-still-growing frame, became a Melrose High School fashion trend. Lonnie stayed in regular contact with Coach Lewis until the coach's death in 2015.

During high school and college, Lonnie worked summer jobs to earn his own spending money. Here, his athleticism once again came to his aid enabling him to work as a lifeguard at Memphis' L. E. Brown Swimming Pool.

Basketball also took Lonnie to Maryland State College on a full four-year athletic scholarship. Along with a bachelor's degree, Lonnie left Maryland State with a wife, Elaine Randall of Annapolis, Maryland. The couple had one child, daughter, Joy Renee Butler.

Shortly after his college graduation in 1964, Lonnie moved to his adopted hometown of Plainfield, New Jersey. He would be a Plainfield resident for the next fifty-six years. As a recent college graduate, Lonnie worked as a junior high school physical education and science teacher, and later as a counselor. He also worked an assortment of side gigs including truck driver, and Amway products salesman. While employed, he did post-graduate studies at Kean College and Montclair State University.

Ultimately, Lonnie found his professional calling in real estate investment and the stock market. He became a licensed real estate salesperson, then a broker, and then a real estate appraiser. He opened his own real estate brokerage, Renee Real Estate, in the 1980s.

Lonnie carved a lifestyle that was uniquely his own. Into his 80s, he filled his days with renovating his investment properties – often with his own hands - , monitoring his stock portfolio, and improving his option trading strategy. He travelled often – sometimes to explore new cities and cultural sites, sometimes to attend professional seminars, and most frequently to visit family and friends in Memphis; Peoria, Illinois; Eudora, Arkansas; Atlanta, Georgia; Arlington, Virginia; and other locations. Tennis was the athletic passion of his 30s and into his 40s. At mid-life, he became a competent skier. A more recent leisure activity was learning to play the guitar.

Lonnie was diagnosed with cancer in January 2020. After spending three weeks in the hospital and two weeks in rehab, he did extremely well from mid-February through May – returning to most aspects of his normal routine. A relapse sent him back to the hospital in early June. He passed during the early morning of Thursday, July 2, 2020.

Lonnie was preceded in death by his mother Eula Eason Jones; his father Ezra Small; and his maternal uncles, Lonnie, Wade, and Robert Lee Butler, with whom he always had a strong bond. Lonnie leaves to cherish his memories: his daughter, Joy R. Butler; his sister, Vinetta Ann Jones; and many other relatives and friends.