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Hard working, long enduring
Ignacia Bordallo Butler (1897 – 1993) helped her husband, Chester Butler, turn a small business into one of Guam’s most successful business ventures in the pre-World War II era. She also took over the business after his death in 1952 and ran it until her retirement in 1982. Butler’s Inc., which includes a store and restaurant, is now Guam’s oldest surviving family business. She established a reputation as an honest and successful businesswoman and became known as the “grand lady” of Guam’s business community. She and her husband, two of Guam’s earliest business pioneers, were inducted as laureates into the Guam Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame in 1996.
Ignacia Bordallo was the daughter of Baltazar Bordallo, a Spaniard, and Rita Pangelinan, a daughter of Guam’s large “Kotla” clan. Ignacia had a sister and three younger brothers, including the successful politicians Baltazar Jerome (B.J.) and Carlos Bordallo.
She was only seventeen years old when she met Chester Butler, a sailor from Texas who came to Guam and started a soda-manufacturing business in 1915. A year later, they were married, and together they had five children and numerous business successes.
Introduced Coca-Cola to the island
The two worked hard to grow their business, Butler’s Inc.. They received a boost when Chester Butler went to Atlanta, Georgia and obtained a franchise for Coca-Cola, then a new soft drink. Their Coca-Cola bottling venture was a success and they added modern machinery and Guam’s first automated conveyor assembly line to their soda-making plant. Soon, Butler’s became synonymous with Coca-Cola.
In the early 1930s, the couple added to their growing business the Butler’s Merchandise Retail Store in Hagåtña, several warehouses, and the Gaiety Theater in Hagåtña, one of only two movie theaters on Guam at the time.
In 1936, they opened Butler’s Emporium in Hagåtña, a dry goods store featuring major U.S. franchises such as the popular picture weeklies Life, Post, Collier’s, Newsweek, and Time magazines, General Electric and Hamm’s Beer. Butler’s Soda Fountain, located inside the Emporium, was the most popular ice cream spot on Guam before World War II. They also started Guam’s first commercial radio station, K6LG, which was operated only a few hours a day by their son, Benny.
Took charge while husband was prisoner of war
When World War II broke out, Chester Butler was one of the Americans taken to Japan as a prisoner of war. Ignacia continued to operate the family business with her son James during the Japanese occupation. When Japanese soldiers tried to get her to make Coca-Cola, she told them she had run out of syrup, although in reality she had plenty in stock hidden in her warehouse.
Like many island business owners, she was forced to keep her store running, while the Japanese regularly took things without paying. But she didn’t give in to the Japanese. She helped to support the operators of secret radios, at great risk to herself, to help the Chamorros stay in tune with American news reports of the war. She was physically abused, however, for her resistance during the war.
A promise to God
In addition, Ignacia worried about her husband and, being a devout Catholic, she made a promise to God that if he returned safely, Butler’s would no longer sell alcoholic beverages. Her daughters Beatrice and Martha promised that upon their father’s safe return they would devote their lives to the church by entering a convent. When Chester Butler returned at the end of the war, Ignacia kept her promise and Butler’s never again sold alcohol. Her daughters also kept their promises, becoming Carmelite nuns living in a cloistered convent in California.
The Butler’s businesses were in ruins from the American bombardment of Hagåtña in 1944. Most of their family land was taken by the re-established American naval government. Chester never regained his health after his internment and died in 1952.
Ignacia took over the running of the business, reconsolidating Butler’s holdings and relocating Butler’s store to its present location in Sinajana. She ran Butler’s as its president until 1982, when ill health finally forced her into retirement. She moved to California to live with her daughter Clara Mae and died there on April 18, 1993 at the age of 95.
Ignacia Butler was known among the religious community as a benefactor for her numerous financial contributions to the church and set an example for all Chamorro women as a successful mother, businesswoman and civic leader.
For further reading
Butler’s, Inc.. “Genesis of Butler’s Inc.” (accessed September 13, 2007).
Guam Chamber of Commerce. “Hall of Fame Laureate Profile: Chester Carl Butler & Ignacia Bordallo Butler” (accessed September 13, 2007).
Political Status Education Coordinating Commission. Hale’-ta, I Manfåyi: Who’s Who in Chamorro History. Vol. 1. Hagåtña: Political Status Education Coordinating Commission, 1995.