Lawrence Robert Butler was born on April 7, 1913 at the Blanche (Mulgrave and Derry), Quebec. His parents were Emile Butler and Josephine Delcourt.

He was married on August 25, 1951 to Phyllis Anna Martha Berndt (daughter of Herman Berndt and Adeline Fenske of Inlet (Mulgrave and Derry), Quebec. They had one daughter, Frances Phyllis Butler.

Lawrence Robert Butler enlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers for the Canadian Army - Second World War on November 23, 1942. He served in Canada, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.

His Unit was R.C.E. (The Corps of the Royal Canadian Engineers). When a soldier of the R.C.E. goes to combat his rank then becomes S.P.R., which stands for Sapper in lieu of plain soldier. A sapper is an individual engineer soldier in the military service. He is considered the most elite of combat engineer soldiers. A sapper/combat engineer may perform any of a variety of combat engineering duties. Such tasks typically include bridge building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defenses as well as building, road and airfield construction and repair. In other words, a modern sapper's tasks involve facilitating movement and logistics of allied forces and impeding those of enemies.

He also served in Canada as N.R.M.A. from October 29th to November 23rd, 1942.