John Austin Dutton

OBITUARY OF JOHN A. DUTTON, LT. COL., USAF, RET.



John A. Dutton (89) passed away on August 18, 2022. Born in Quincy, MA on March 1, 1933, he was the oldest of six children of Warren and Esther Dutton who pre-deceased him. His brother, Warren Jr., passed away on May 28, 2006, and sister Marion Seckendorf, on July 15, 2010. His remaining siblings are Eleanor Lombardo, Mary Esther Dutton, and James Dutton who all live in New England. John graduated from Colby College, Waterville, ME in 1955 and received a BA in Geology and a commission in the U.S. Air Force. He completed basic pilot training in 1956 and became an instructor pilot at Goodfellow AFB, TX. In 1960, he was assigned to Mather AFB, CA and married the former Jane Gilchrist of Sacramento, CA in 1961. John always felt that Jane was the "wind beneath his wings" throughout his Air Force career of 26 years and in retirement after 1980 . By then he had flown over 8000 hours primarily as an instructor pilot and flight examiner. During the 1960s, John and Jane became parents to John, Jr., William, and Julie Dutton. In later years, they became grandparents to one grandson, Steven, and three granddaughters, Elizabeth, Heather, and Bonnie. In 1967, he graduated from the Ohio State University with an MS in Geodetic Science. Later assignments included Korea and Vietnam. A further assignment took him to the Pentagon where he was the project officer for the Air Force's aerial mapping program and other classified programs. During his four years at the Pentagon, he was promoted to Lt. Colonel. In 1975, John was assigned as Commander of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps unit at Duke University, Durham, NC. He returned to flying in 1979 and became a C-130E aircraft commander, assigned to Pope AFB, NC. John retired in 1980 and returned to Duke where he held positions in Athletics and the Dept. of Electrical Engineering. Upon full retirement from Duke in 1989, John and Jane returned to Sacramento. He then became active in health care counseling and voluntary tax preparation for the elderly for 13 years. John and Jane loved to garden, travel and research genealogy together. Longtime associations were with the Masons, Shriners, Daedalions and Colby College athletics. His hobbies included flight simulation, computers, genealogy, and photography. Services will be private with burial in the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Massachusetts. The family requests in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the Disabled American Veterans.