Gayle Lynette Belcheff Butts

Lynette Butts, age 72 of Corrales, NM, a beloved sister, wife, mother, grandmother and most recently great-grandmother, a friend and mentor passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, February 1, 2026.

To know Lynette was to love her, she was a mother figure to many, her laugh and smile were contagious. The most important thing to Net was family, especially her husband and her girls. Her passing was very unexpected and left us in mourning. Her biggest vices were going to the movies and chocolate.

Born in Raton, NM, on a crisp fall Thursday, October 22, 1953, to Alba (Daves) and Stephen Belcheff. She was the fourth of five children and the youngest daughter. She graduated from Raton High with the Class of 1971. She welcomed her first daughter, JoLynn not long after.

In 1976, by a complete serendipitous string of events, she met the love of her life, Frank Butts and married him at the Methodist Church in Albuquerque on March 25, 1978. Soon after, they welcomed their second daughter, Sarah. They moved to Clovis, Lubbock, Albuquerque and finally settled in Corrales, 1988.

Lynette worked at Sandia Surgical Associates for 10 years, then became the financial coordinator for Dr Jorgensen orthodontic office; she proudly retired after 30 years of service.

She is survived by her siblings, Larry (Debbie) Belcheff, Debbie (Dennis) Selvage all of Albuquerque, and Steve Belcheff of New Braunfels, TX; and her children, JoLynn (Steve) Kniffin, Sarah (Luis) Sandoval all of Albuquerque, Jennifer (Michael) Gruger of Tularosa and Misty Medders of Colorado Springs; grandchildren, Sage Butts of Dubai UAE, Reed (Spencer) Mason of Newport, OR, Steven Campay of Colorado Springs, Maiah (Nick) Passaglia and Alyssa Sandoval; great-grandson, Aurelio Passaglia all of Albuquerque. Honorable mention to her closest friends: Allyson, Tina and Gloria, plus many more friends and family.

Lynette was preceded in death by her parents, Stephen and Alba Belcheff, eldest sister, Retha; sisters-in-law, Karen, Janey and June; brothers-in-law, Harlan and Dale Butts and several beloved pets.

Dual memorial services will be held for Mr. and Mrs. Butts on their 48th wedding anniversary Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., at the FRENCH – Westside Chapel. Lynette loved pink and sunflowers, Frank loved blue and horses, feel free to show your love for them by wearing these colors/themes if you wish.

Lynette's Childhood Story

There were five Belcheff children, Retha, Larry, Debbie, Lynette and Stevie. We lived in Springer, New Mexico. Dad owned a dry-cleaning business, and we lived on Main Street.

The elementary school was right across the street, we would play in the school yard all the time, especially when the leaves fell in the grass in the school's front yard. You could find us raking up and jumping in piles of leaves for hours.

At the end of the block, there was a small bar that served as a barrier for the nearby arroyo. We played like it was a gymnastics bar, swinging around and doing tricks when it was really less than 12 inches off the ground.

We spent hours playing in our backyard, the oldest, fearless sister would jump Retha from the garage and land atop our playhouse. Most of the time she would miss and land in the bushes. She convinced Larry to do the same. The three youngest may have been smarter than their older counterparts.

Our dad played golf on the weekends, after he left, mom would load us kids into the station wagon and off we went to stay with her folks in Delhart, Texas. One of our trips took a turn when a family of skunks crossed in front of our car. Mom tried to avoid them, but she could not swerve without wrecking, she killed one of the babies and we all cried the rest of the way to grandma's house.

We were in Dalhart a lot, we were always fighting over whose turn it was to light granddaddy's cigarette. He rolled his own with his tobacco-stained fingers. Everyone enjoyed lighting the match, but we are not sure if Lynette really lit them, she had a thing for eating the tops of matches off. Sometimes we were lucky enough to go to the stockyards with granddaddy, it was wonderful but smelled like manure. Grandmother had ceramic chickens in the backyard, we played with them like they were our babies.

On the hot summer nights, the cicadas were so loud we barely slept no matter where we were. Our dad's parents lived on their farm in Sofia, NM. Mostly for occasions like birthdays, all the cousins would gather to play on tractors and chase the baby chicks around the coop. Grandpa George let us explore the land on his jeep. He kept his secret cigarettes hidden in the glove box, not sure if anyone ever tried to smoke them! Grandma Lucy cooked the best turkeys in the breeze way; you could smell them for miles. She and George had six children who also had several children. We all sat around the dining table wondering how we all fit. After supper we braved the scary steep steps leading to the basement, well worth it, when we found her scratch cherry cheesecake. It was a simpler time; to avoid the adults, we played in the dirt and rarely washed our hands. Never locking our cars and front doors day or night.

Our parents took us to the movies; dad was part of the Kiwanis Club. He invited radio personality Paul Harvey which was a very big deal in a small northern New Mexico town. All of the children were born during the Polio scare from 1948 until 1955 when the vaccine was invented. It was a fatal diagnosis for some, and I can't imagine how mom and dad were able to deal with the stress of 5 unvaccinated children. In 1963 while we were on the playground John F. Kennedy was assassinated. We were sent home from school and the following month we moved to the "big city" of Raton. Dad drove the moving truck; mom had us in the station wagon following behind. We had to stop and pick up a few dining room chairs that flew out along the way.

Once we arrived, we set up the Christmas tree. Mom and dad bought their forever home on December 7, 1964. Stevie, Lynette and Debbie were at the elementary school while Retha and Larry attended junior high. We loved Raton, made fast friends and as we grew older, we preferred friends to our siblings. We had parades, proms, football and baseball games. We drove to school and in the summers, we worked at the racetrack with most of our fellow teenagers, Retha's class had the cutest boys. As we graduated, we left Raton and settled in Albuquerque with the exception of Stevie, he found his home in Texas. Life was simple and fun growing up in the 60's.