Tom Hutchinson (81) passed away on March 14th 2015, in Edmonds, WA after a brief hospital stay due to complications from a respiratory infection.

Thomas Earl (Hutch) Hutchinson, was born February 26th, 1934 in the little town of North Redwood Falls, MN, to Ralph Edward and Elfie Ethel Hutchinson. His family moved to Seattle, Washington when he was 3 month old. His father drove the family of ten, the 1,600 miles in a truck. He had seven siblings: Robert Oliver, Mary Betty (the only still-living sibling), Lois Irene, James Edward, Harold Joseph, twin sister Effie Marie (who passed away in January of 2010), and William Wesley.

His family moved to an Edmonds farm when he and Effie were four. He eventually attended Edmonds High School, where he graduated in 1952. He kept in contact with many of his classmates, and always enjoyed his High School reunions. He sang in the High School Quartet and in the Edmonds Chorale and in the choir at the Church of the Good Shepherd.

Tom was married briefly to Evon and had a daughter, Jean Malene. He married Diane Elaine in 1956 and they lived in Alderwood Manor, in a converted chicken coop, when their children were born, Jody Elaine and three years later, Jeffrey Wayne. They lived from 1961 to 2006 in a house in Lynnwood. He added on in 1976, nearly doubling the house in size. He had it framed, and then did most of the rest of the remodel work himself.

In 2006, they downsized and moved to a smaller home near Edmonds, where they recently celebrated their 59th Anniversary.

Tom learned mechanical skills from his dad beginning at a young age in the converted barn. As a young man he held jobs at a gas station and as an auto mechanic. He also worked in the Shipyards as a sheet metal worker. For over 26 years, from 1979 to 2006, he owned Olympic Fuel Injection, a diesel repair shop with a couple of partners and his son.

Always interested in cars, Tom was a licensed driver at age 11, for farm equipment. His entire life, he bought, traded, and rebuilt different automobiles. His first car was 1936 Willy's Sedan (the name later changed to Jeep at the end of WWII.) In the list of cars he owned and sold, his most recent rebuilds were a Mercedes, helping Jeff with a Barracuda, and a convertible Dodge Dart, "Baby" that he rebuilt and had painted powder blue for Diane.

Though he took over his sister's piano lessons for a while, Tom was mostly a self-taught pianist. He loved classical, jazz and ragtime and played frequently. He was playing for hours at a time, just prior to his final hospitalization.

An avid photographer, Tom was always taking pictures and updating his camera equipment.

Tom loved road trips and took the family and friends on frequent road trips west of the Rockies, photographing much of the journey.

The family nearly always had pets, as Tom was very fond of dogs, and he and Diane often babysat a friend's dog, after he no longer had his own.

Tom enjoyed reading the funnies in the paper, especially Calvin and Hobbes, Hagar the Horrible, The Wizard of Id, and Family Circus. He also read Popular Mechanic, Photography Magazines, and Computer and Science Magazines. He loved learning and keeping up with technology. Because of that, he could fix or build anything. Tom was always willing to share his skills, advice or expertise.

Another of Tom's pastimes was helping Diane pursue her love of gardening. With the assistance of a friend, he designed and built her free-standing vegetable gardens, just last year.

Tom will be remembered as friendly, happy, always smiling, nice to everyone, positive, generous, fun-loving, and devoted to his family.

He is survived by wife, Diane, sister Betty (of Stanwood), daughter Jody (Connie) of Bothell, son Jeff (Debbie) of Bothell, eleven grandchildren (Ben, Bekah, Casey, Paul, Abby, Kevin, Jamie, Thor, Tommy, Trevor, Brian), as well as some great-grandchildren, and dozens of nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by six of his siblings, his daughter, Jean and grand-daughter, Bethany.