DeSales University to Honor Lee and Dolly Butz at Gala

On Saturday, March 15, DeSales University will honor Lee and Dolly Butz with the inaugural Take Hold Award at the school’s annual A Night for DeSales Gala at 5:30 p.m. at the DeSales University Center.

A Night for DeSales is held annually on the campus of DeSales University and is the largest fundraising event for the school. This year, in addition to honoring the Butzes, the event will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the University’s founding. All proceeds benefit The DeSales Fund, which supports student financial aid.

The Take Hold Award celebrates exemplary individuals whose lives and work reflect the values and mission of the University.

Lee Butz has supported the mission for many years. He served on the Board of Trustees from 1982 to 2004, and, as a renowned stage photographer, he took more than 300,000 pictures at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and the University’s Act 1 theatre productions. In 1986, Dolly Butz chaired the University’s Dinner Dance, titled Spring Gala.

Outside of DeSales, Lee and Dolly have invested their time, energy, and resources in many selfless projects to improve the Lehigh Valley community. “Dolly is a doting mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother,” says Lee. “She is the glue that holds our family together.”

Dolly has been a board member and treasurer for the last 30 years with the Fund to Benefit Children and Youth Inc. Operation Santa Claus is her creation, and, every Christmas, they provide gifts for more than 700 children under the care of Lehigh County Children and Youth Services.

Lee joined his father’s construction firm in 1957, pioneered the construction management concept, and led Alvin H. Butz, Inc. to become one of the largest construction companies in Pennsylvania. The company has built almost every building on the DeSales campus, including the first two, Dooling Hall and Wills Hall.

Much of Lee’s focus has been on the lives of children, particularly those in Allentown. He served on the Governor’s Early Learning Commission and founded The Allentown DRIVE, a baseball program for center-city boys, and the Wm. Allen Construction Company, a student-run group that manages projects at the high school. He is president of the board of The Century Promise, a program that will change the lives of children in the Allentown School District.

Lee and Dolly try hard to improve the quality of the lives of citizens in our community. Through their companies and individually, the Butz family has given more than $2 million to organizations in and around the Lehigh Valley in the past 10 years. Their children—Greg, Shari, and Eric—are all involved with Alvin H. Butz, Inc., with Greg serving as CEO. They’re proud of their seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Grandsons Mike and Steve Butz have become the sixth generation of Butz employees.

The first Night for DeSales Gala was held in the spring of 1982.