Rick Butler, the deputy reeve of Rocky View County, is being remembered as a man who spent much of his life contributing to his community as an administrator and politician. A lifelong skier, Butler was killed after hitting an icy patch and striking a tree while skiing with his daughters at Nakiska Mountain Resort, Monday.

Butler was conscious when receiving first response medical help, but his condition deteriorated as he was being transferred to Foothills Hospital in Calgary where he was pronounced dead. He leaves behind his wife Gwyn and two daughters, Corrie and Marni.

His family said he was a friend to absolutely everyone who met him. "No one could resist Rick's enthusiastic and exuberant personality and the laugh that came with it," his family wrote in his obituary. "He listened in such a way as to make everyone believe they were the most important person and task at hand."

Cochrane mayor, Truper McBride knew Butler for more than a decade through their work together on the Calgary Regional Partnership — an organization focusing on long-term planning for sustainable growth in the Calgary region. "He was somebody who saw how we needed to do things better and he spent his life making things better", said McBride.

Rocky View County Reeve Rolly Ashdown was shaken by the news but said there's some consolation in knowing Butler died doing what he loved to do.

Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown also couldn't believe that Butler had passed, remembering the times he had spent with the Deputy Reeve as they crossed paths over the years.

Funeral services will be held at RockPointe Church in Bearspaw, located at 255024 Lochend Rd. just east of Cochrane on Highway 1A, at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 4.

For further information, visit www.cochranecountryfuneral.com.