Harriett Hays Butchko, MD, 75, passed away on February 14, 2026, after a long illness, at Integrated Palliative & Hospice in Libertyville, Illinois.

She was born in Athens, Georgia on March 31, 1950. Harriett was the beloved daughter of William Jackson Hays and Carolyn Ross Hays. She was raised in Georgia in a close-knit family and later graduated from T. L. Hanna High School in Anderson, South Carolina in 1968. Harriett attended the University of Georgia, where she majored in biochemistry and graduated in 1972. Her academic excellence earned her election to Phi Beta Kappa, reflecting both her intelligence and her deep love of learning.  During her college years, she met Gregory M. Butchko, PhD, whom she married in 1972- beginning a partnership that would span more than five decades.

In 1979, while raising her 5-year-old daughter, Karin, and a 3-year-old son, Jeff, she began attending the Northwestern University School of Medicine. Balancing the demands of medical school with motherhood, she demonstrated remarkable determination and resilience. She earned her medical degree in 1982 and completed postgraduate training in neurology at the MacGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.

She devoted most of her professional life to the food industry, serving at the Nutrasweet Company as Director of Clinical Research and later Vice President of Medical and Scientific Affairs. She approached her work with integrity and intellectual rigor.

Above all, Harriett was devoted to her family. She was a steady source of wisdom, strength, and encouragement to her children and a loving and steadfast partner to her husband. She took pridein her family’s accomplishments and cherished time spent together.

She is survived by her husband Gregory; her daughter Karin; her son, Jeff, and his longtime partner Erika, all of Lake Forest, Illinois; her brother Ed Hays, and his wife, Carol, of Marietta, Georgia; and many nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her brother William Jackson Hays, Jr.

A visitation will be held at J.C. Harwell & Son Funeral Home in Covington, Georgia on Friday February 27, 2026, from 6 to 8 PM.  A church service will be held at the Luther Hays Presbyterian Church in Mansfield, Georgia at 11 AM on Saturday February 28, 2026, with interment immediately to follow at the Hays Family Cemetery near the church. 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Our House of Hope Rescue or Integrated Palliative & Hospice, both of Libertyville, Illinois. J.C. Harwell and Son Funeral Home has been entrusted with these services.