John William Otterson took to heart the advice to get a job doing what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life.

Otterson, a 1966 Butler High School graduate who died Nov. 16, parlayed his passion for flora and fauna into a long, award-winning career in landscape architecture.For the past decade, Otterson served as chairman of the Hershey Gardens advisory board, where he was much more than just a board member.Don Papson, executive director of the Milton S. Hershey Foundation, said Otterson performed all the landscaping design around the new Milton and Catherine Hershey Conservatory in 2015, helped with the 2012 dedication of the 75th anniversary of Hershey Gardens and created a master plan for Hershey Gardens in 2007.“He was all in to help with anything and everything he could,” Papson said of Otterson's work on the advisory board.He said he always marveled at Otterson's aplomb when it came to green spaces.“He was the most incredibly engaged person when it came to horticulture,” Papson said. “He loved plants and trees and flowers, but he had a real special connection with horticulture that went beyond normal.”But more importantly, Papson said Otterson was a good man.“He was one of those really, really humble guys who was just a wonderful human being,” he said. “He just loved his wife, children and grandchildren.”Hershey Gardens on May 1 will dedicate a tribute garden to Otterson.Marcie Fry Otterson, his wife, said the couple moved to Cumberland County in 2003 when Otterson accepted a position as a landscape architect there, and to be closer to their three sons and their families.While living in his hometown, she said, Otterson worked with a handful of other experts to create a soccer complex in Center Township.She said no matter where the family lived, her husband loved the outdoors.“He just loved the woods,” Marcie said. “He loved Moraine State Park. He was an outdoor guy.”She said Otterson received awards for his work over the years, but never worked toward that end.“He never did anything for praise or thanks or rewards,” she said. “He would be the last person to wave his flag.”She said her husband, the drum major in the Golden Tornado Marching Band in high school, completed a concept drawing for an athletic complex where his son, Andrew, a school soccer coach, will someday lead his team.That plan is now in the works.She said she misses her husband's enthusiasm for using his skills to help the community.“He was always a positive person,” Marcie said. “He volunteered for anything to make the community better, especially when it came to designing something outdoors or giving advice on it.”In addition to Marcie and Andrew, Otterson is survived by sons Ben and Erinn and their wives, six grandchildren and a sister.

John William Otterson