Joseph Dwight Hutchinson

1936 - 2020

Commander J. Dwight Hutchinson of Middletown, MD entered his heavenly rest on June 30, 2020, after a brief and courageous fight with cancer, at his home, Covenant Springs, surrounded by his loving family. Dwight was an example and encouragement to us all in the ways he loved and served his wife and family, his country, and most of all, his Lord and church during his 83 years on this earth. A deeply spiritual and humble man, Dwight lived a life of gratitude for the grace he himself received from Jesus Christ, in whom his eternal hope is sure. Dwight loved to laugh, tell animated stories, and serve others in quiet, practical ways.

Dwight was born in 1936 in Summerville, SC, the son of Joseph and Grace Allan Hutchinson. He graduated from Summerville High School in 1954 where he was a member of the Honor Society and lettered in three sports. He was the grandson of Joseph Hall Waring Hutchinson and Florence Huntington Bridge Hutchinson and James Allan and Maria Ross Heriot Allan, all of Summerville. He received a Senatorial appointment and was an honor graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with the class of 1958.

He is survived by his wife, Lydia; daughter, Susan Hutchinson, of Oakland, CA; son, the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Hutchinson and wife, Troy, of New Haven, CT; son, the Rev. Christopher Hutchinson, and wife, Kirstan, of Blacksburg, VA; and five grandchildren, Taylor, Hunter, Geneva, Claire and Joseph. He is also survived by his sister, Grace Chapman, of Columbia, SC and brother, Steve Hutchinson, of Sarasota, FL.

Commander Hutchinson served in the Naval Service for twenty years, primarily with the Submarine Service. He earned post-graduate degrees in Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a qualified deep-sea diver. His naval service included tours in the Mediterranean Sea, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Connecticut, Guam, Scotland, Spain, Maryland, California, and the Pentagon, where he oversaw the initial launching and commissioning of the Los Angeles Class fast attack submarines. Following his naval service, he was the Vice President of a small high tech firm in Northern Virginia, serving as a project manager and director of marketing and development.

While stationed in New London, Dwight met the love of his life, the former Lydia Somers Coleman, to whom he was married for 59 joy-filled years.

Fully retiring in 1992, Dwight and Lydia moved to the Middletown Valley to an antebellum farmhouse they named, Covenant Springs, where they raised champion Cairn Terriers and became involved as volunteers with a number of charitable and Christian organizations. He served on the boards of directors for the Historical Society of Frederick County, the Middletown Valley Historical Society where he served as president, and Middletown Main Street, as well as being honored as Middletown's "Grand Marshall" in 2018. Dwight was the Chairman of the Board of Deacons at Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church for almost twenty years, which recently named him Deacon Emeritus. Throughout his adult life, Dwight and Lydia were very active in their local churches, he as vestryman and lay leader with their Episcopal Church and later with the Presbyterian Church in America. A great lover of theology and history, Dwight also attended a number of Christian courses at Trinity Episcopal School of Ministry and wrote a large number of articles for his local congregation's newsletters.

Dwight will be greatly missed by his family and all who knew him, but who also, in Christ, look forward to seeing him again in the New Heavens and New Earth.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to the Deacon's Fund of Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church (faithreformed.org), or the Foundation of the Cairn Terrier Club of America (cairnterrierhealth.org).

An outdoor Memorial Service will be celebrated at 10am on Saturday, July 11th, at Covenant Springs, 7400 Holter Road, Middletown, MD. Due to current health regulations, please RSVP to jdh.rsvp@gmail.com by Wednesday, July 8th to receive instructions. The service will be recorded and posted online later for those unable to attend on Facebook, available by searching for "Dwight Hutchinson - Celebration of Life." Internment will follow at a later date at his family's site, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Summerville, SC.