Lived at 102-03 32nd Avenue in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York while growing up.
Graduated in 1967 from Flushing High School in Flushing, Queens, New York. He was class president.
Graduated from Morehouse College.
Earned a Master of Divinity in church history from Union Theological Seminary.
Was president of SUNY Old Westbury for 20 years.
In 1972 he joined the Abyssinian Baptist Church as a youth minister rising to become senior minister.
For many years he has delivered a Sunday morning sermon on 98.7 KISS FM.
Father Calvin Otis Butts Jr was born 5 December 1922. He was a United States Marine during World War II and married Eloise Edwards on 14 September 1947.
Survived by wife Patricia, two sons, Calvin Butts, IV, and Alexander, a daughter, Patricia Jean Butts, and six grandchildren.