Lindol Hutton

LINDOL H. HUTTON

HOUGHTON – Lindol Henry Hutton, a humble and gracious servant of Christ, died April 12, 2014, at home after a long period of declining health. He was 90 years old.

He was the son of Jeremy Paul “Jerry” and Glenn Chandler Hutton, born on May 10, 1923, in St. Johnsbury, Vt. He grew up on his parents’ dairy farm on Harvey’s Mountain in West Barnet, Vt., along with his dear half-sister, Elsie, and his younger sister, Geneva.  He and his sisters attended grade school in a one-room schoolhouse, where their mother was the teacher.

With the loving influence of his older sister, Elsie, Lindol made the pivotal decision to surrender his life to Christ as a young person—a decision he never regretted.

During the 1930s his parents hosted summer vacationers on the farm, among them refugees from Europe who had fled Nazi persecution. Their stories made a strong impression and created in him a keen interest in global affairs and in people from other cultures.

Lindol graduated in 1941 from Peacham Academy, the local high school, and was valedictorian of his class. Because he was needed on the farm, he was exempted from military service in World War II. He continued helping his father on the farm and started his own business of collecting milk daily from farms in the area and delivering it to the creamery.

When his father suddenly died of a heart attack in 1947, Lindol continued living with his mother on the farm and took over its management.

Another visitor to the Hutton farm was Ruth Fancher, an itinerant Bible teacher who stayed at the farmhouse on alternate weekends. They were married in 1950 and started their family on the farm on the mountain.

Lindol decided he wanted get a college education and surprised his wife by announcing that he wanted to move to Ruth’s hometown, Houghton, and attend college there. So they left the farm in the care of tenant farmers in 1953 and moved to New York with their almost one-year-old baby, Nancy Jo.

For part of the time that Lindol was attending college, he managed the Houghton College Farm and the family lived there.

He graduated from Houghton College in 1957 and then became business manager and a history teacher at Houghton Academy. He taught there until 1969 and was very involved with the students and the life of Houghton Academy.

He earned an MBA at the University at Buffalo and in 1969 started teaching full time at Houghton College in the business department.

In 1975 he began a career as a real estate agent and broker. He was the owner of Hutton Realty for many years until he gradually retired after he turned 80. He also headed his own real estate development business, buying and renovating houses and farms, and selling recreational and residential lots.

He was active in the community as a member of the Gideons, the Fillmore Rotary Club, the Caneadea Town Board and the board of assessors. He was on the Houghton Academy board of trustees for many years, was a founding director of the Genesee Valley Chapter of Habitat For Humanity and served on the board of Houghton Wesleyan Church, where he and his wife were members.

He enjoyed travel, being with family and working outdoors, especially exploring remote farm properties and cutting firewood on the family woodlots. He had a lifelong interest in Civil War history and Morgan horses.

Lindol was a man of strong, quiet faith who served as an example of Godliness and generosity to his family and community. In his last years, as dementia clouded his mind, his most common response to family and care-givers was, “I love you.”

His wife of 63 years, Ruth Fancher Hutton died on Feb. 14 of this year.

The family includes four sons, Jeremy (Lisa) Hutton of Lincolnton, Ga., Timothy (Sue) Hutton of Brantford, Ont., Roderic (Carolyn) Hutton of Madbury, N.H., and Willard (Donna) Hutton of Holland, Mass.; two daughters, Nancy Jo (David) Pullen of Houghton and Rebecca Hutton of Houghton; 26 grandchildren and one great-grandchild; and a foster daughter, Kelly Turner-Irland, of Daytona Beach, Fla.; and a sister, Geneva Faris of Cape Coral, Fla.; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sister, Elsie Hutton Anderson, and a grandchild, Gloria Hutton.

Family and friends may gather Wednesday, April 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, April 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Kopler-Williams Funeral Home, 21 N. Genesee St., Fillmore. A memorial service will be held Sunday, June 8, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. at Houghton Wesleyan Church. A joint burial with his wife, Ruth, will follow in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Houghton.

Memorial donations may be made to Houghton Wesleyan Church, Houghton Academy, Houghton College or Gideons International.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Lindol Hutton, please visit our floral store.