Precious Moments founder, artist, Sam Butcher, dies at age 85

May 20—CARTHAGE, Mo. — Sam Butcher, an artist who helped put Carthage on the map as the founder of Precious Moments, has died.

The Precious Moments Foundation announced on its Facebook page on Monday that Butcher, 85, "was called home to God in the early morning hours today. In his final words he shared that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were with him and that it was beautiful."

Carthage artist Andy Thomas said he got to know Butcher through the annual Midwest Gathering of the Artists, which was held in Carthage for 36 years through 2013.

"Lowell Davis and Bob Tommey and Sam Butcher, they were the big three that really put Carthage on the map," Thomas said. "It was Lowell Davis first, then Bob Tommey and Sam Butcher relocated here. Sam was a real phenomena in the 1990s, and he had a phenomenal affect on the arts community in Carthage."

Davis and Tommey both died in 2020.

"It's really sad. I miss Lowell and Bob, and I'll miss Sam, too," Thomas said. "It's like three big parts of my life have been ripped out."

According to Sam Butcher's story on the website https://www.preciousmoments.com/butcher-story, Butcher was born in Jackson, Michigan, on Jan. 1, 1939. The family moved to Redding, California, when Butcher was young.

"Most of Sam's childhood days were spent drawing and sketching under the dining room table," the website said. "At a very early age his talent was recognized by both family members and friends, but because his family was so poor, drawing materials were hard to come by. Sam was a clever child, however, and soon his favorite place was a factory dump near his home where he would search for rolls of paper to draw on."

The site said Butcher began drawing his trademark teardrop-eyed children he called Precious Moments for family and friends.

The site said Precious Moments artwork was introduced to the public in 1975 on greeting cards and posters, and in 1978 the first figurines were unveiled.

Butcher said he was looking for a place to build his dream, a Precious Moments Chapel, and happened to drive through Carthage in the mid-1980s.

In an article in The Carthage Press about the chapel's 25th anniversary in 2014, Sam Butcher's son, Don Butcher, recalled his father moving the family from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Carthage in 1985 after his father searched for a place to build his vision.

The Precious Moments Chapel was opened in 1989 and has been called "the Sistine Chapel of North America."

Butcher painted all the murals and paintings in the 9,000-square-foot chapel, which grew into a top area tourist attraction.

"My work is never done and the chapel will never be done because I'm always inspired to do something else or the Lord uses someone else to add to and make something special," Butcher said in an interview in 2015.