James Hutchinson

James Hutchinson, 92, died Saturday, Dec. 16, leaving a legacy forged by faith, family and a job well done.

The second-generation owner of the former Hutchinson’s Dry Cleaners on Negley Avenue and avid golfer is remembered by his children as a “gentle giant” and a man of service and faith.

Father to eight, Hutchinson had a “quiet presence,” his son, Jack Hutchinson, said.

His daughter, Joan Ferraro, echoed the sentiment.

“He internalized a lot, but he had a heart bigger than he was,” she said.

On Saturdays, Hutchinson would bring one of his eight children with him to the dry cleaners, where a treat was lunch at Burger Hut. At home, after bringing groceries inside from his van, Hutchinson would sit around the table with his wife and children and have supper together as a family. Each night, Hutchinson would bless his children with the sign of the cross, and each morning, he would get up to say his morning prayers, Ferraro said.

One of her earliest memories is her father waking up to pray, Ferraro said.

His children described him as a devout Roman Catholic.

“He looked at other humans as Christ,” his son, Steve Hutchinson, said.

“Dad was very open with all of us,” Ferraro shared. “You could take any problem to him. He was there for us. We might have had to go to the cleaners, go to the dry cleaning room to talk to him, but if there was something we needed, he was always there.”

“Remember who you are” was often his parting remark to his children, Ferraro said.

“My interpretation is, you’re always a Hutchinson,” she said. “No matter where you are or what you’re doing, you’re reflecting the family.”

“He expected us to be good and responsible members of the community,” Steve Hutchinson said.

Their father took pride in the business, they said, continuing to work up until he was 88 years old.

“He loved helping people and solving problems,” Ferraro said.

“We were in business helping people,” Steve Hutchinson said. “There was a lot of pride taken in working all week to come back on a Sunday to make a repair.”

After studying accounting at Notre Dame University, he served in the Navy. Hutchinson, a graduate of Butler Senior High School, then returned to take up work at the family’s dry cleaning business.

With the dry cleaning business established in 1926, the Hutchinson name was already prominent in Butler city.

“My grandfather established the dry cleaning business, and he had a big impact on the city of Butler,” Jack Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson, an only child, took up the reins after he returned from the Navy.

He met his wife, Margaret Curtin Hutchinson, in college, while she was a student at St. Mary’s College. In 1951, the story goes that the couple was set up on a blind date for a school dance neither wanted to be on, John Hutchinson said. They didn’t date anyone else after that, Ferraro said.

Reflecting on his time in the Navy, Ferraro said her father would speak on his love of the sea and being out on a ship.

“He liked being out in the ocean,” she said. “There was something about being out there.”

On his 25th anniversary, Hutchinson said he would take his wife to see the Pacific islands. Their eight children gifted their parents a cruise for their 35th anniversary.

“During the cruise, he wanted to go on a tour of laundry,” Ferraro chuckled. “He had to get the crew to agree.”

“He had a wonderful life,” Jack Hutchinson said. “We’re blessed. But talking to somebody who has known him for a long time, it gets a little emotional. You remember the friendships and the relationships.”

“Our father was loved and respected by a lot of people,” Joan Ferraro said. “He will be missed and has been missed by many.”