By Amy V. Dewhurst

Beloved Venice Resident, Butterface Stowell passed away May 18, 2009 at 6:58am.

As the face of Venice Paparazzi Butterface always “Made The Cut”. A true local, Butter enjoyed skateboarding the boardwalk with his mom Edizen, boxing and playing tug-of-war with his dad Alex and enjoying leftovers from the finest Venice Establishments. In the latter part of his life this local celebrity, enjoyed relaxing with his sister, Pancake, as he sipped on wheatgrass shots over looking the ocean.

“Butter was a treeeeemendous kisser!” laughs VNC Member Nancy Feinberg, “When I had to put Tango (her 14 1/2 yr old Maltese) to sleep…I was sitting on the couch by the window at Alex and Edizen’s house. Butter and Pancake layed on top of me, to hug and comfort me. Their love and kisses was the only thing that made me feel better”

In the wake of Butter’s passing the community mourned in its’ usual way (cards, phonecalls, facebook messages). However, in true Venice

Fashion, a miracle occurred. In the middle of the night, an anonymous artist had painted a mural of Butterface on the side of his building on Ocean Front Walk. A mini-shrine of remembrance was created, as

friends and neighbors left candles, mini-skateboards, photos and of course…sticks of butter!

Butter-Love: “He was as happy and zen as ever” reports Rae Ray Goldman who recently rendevous-ed with the Stowell Family “RIP Butter, I miss you already!”

One of Butter’s sparring partners, James Cooney smirks “He was always the loudest and most gentle simultaneously. He has the sweetest growl.”

Local photographer Kirsten Leveson agrees “I introduced Butterface to my son when he was about two months old. I remember being momentarily horrified when Butter got close enough to sniff my son. I realized that my son’s whole head could easily fit into Butter’s mouth without much effort. My next thought was to be so thankful that Butter was such a loving dog & that Edizen and Alex had given him such good

training. My son is now 10 months old and is very excited about dogs.

However, he is still learning how to be gentle and managed to tug Butter’s ear a little too hard when we saw him last week. Butter was such a good dog! He just kind of sighed a little and then he gave a

couple of sweet & tender kisses to my son.

He was a big dog who knew how cool he was & didn’t need to prove it to anyone. He just was….”

Butterface Stowell is survived by his parents Edizen and Alex Stowell and his sister Pancake Stowell.

For more on Butterface  go to venicepaparazzi.com.