Faces Of Nantucket: Bob Butler

Years on Nantucket: 67 (64 full-time)

Favorite things about the island: Fishing, hunting, being on the water, and the way that the seasons change and vary on the island.

Bob Butler’s great-grandfather, Willard Bunker Marden, started W.B. Marden Plumbing Co. in 1897, a business that has now transcended five generations of the family and over 127 years.

Born and raised on Nantucket, Butler himself began working for his father at the company when he was just 12 years old, stocking shelves and pricing items.

The shop sits near the Civil War Monument at 2 Milk Street, the same location where Edward R. Butler, W.B. Marden’s son-in-law moved the business to in 1950. It’s packed with historic relics dating back to the 1800s, with many of Marden’s original tools remaining, stamped with his initials, vintage cash registers, fire extinguishers, and even some products with their original price tags, ranging from a few cents to just a few dollars.

Although now strictly a plumbing and heating business, W.B. Marden started the company with a focus on sheet metal and stoves – particularly parlor heaters that were transported and installed season to season for clients.

“They started out by doing stoves,” Butler explained. “You had parlor heaters back in the old days… and in the springtime, they would take them out of your parlor and clean them, and do any repair work they needed.”

To continue the family business following his graduation from Nantucket High School, Butler attended Cape Cod Technical School, where he worked to receive his journeyman’s license which enabled him to do plumbing and gas fitting. Butler was also taking classes from certified state instructors and completing his apprenticeship during his brief stint off the island in Worcester, where he received his master plumbing license in 1979.

Today, the company employs only four people in addition to Butler, aligning with its small family business values. By continuing to work with customers for over three generations, much of the work that Butler and his son are now doing involves remodeling – showing the company’s ability to shift along with changing technology and remain successful. These long-time customers are who keep W.B. Marden Plumbing up and running.

“It’s a family business that, you know, we try to work for families,” Butler says. “We try to take care of those who have taken care of us over the years.”

Moving into the fifth generation, Butler’s son Henry (Hank), who attended trade school in California for auto mechanics, is back on the island and in the process of taking over the business. When Butler took over the business from his father in 1983, his wife Gail began doing the books, with Hank’s wife Cassy now inheriting the same role.

“When my father ran the business, my mother did all the books for the shop, and then when I'm running the business, my wife Gail did all the books for the shop,” Butler elaborates. “Now, Henry's wife Cassy is doing all the books for the shop in anticipation of him taking over.”

As the business transitions to the capable hands of the next generation, the company’s legacy of family values, dedication, and community ties remains strong. Bob Butler’s experience and Hank’s fresh perspective, combined with the wisdom and experience handed down through generations highlight the longevity of one of Nantucket’s oldest businesses.

All photos below by Charity Grace Mofsen