David Leon Hutton, Pawpaw, of Metairie, Louisiana passed away on June 13, 2020. He always felt he had a great life. He was born on June 11, 1930 to the late Emma and Ross Hutton in Urbana, Illinois. He grew up knowing how to love the simple things in life. For example, his house was ordered from the Sears & Roebuck catalog and was then built by his family, they had the first TV in the neighborhood so everyone would gather to watch it at his house, and he would make an ice skating rink for the neighborhood during the winter by turning a hose on overnight on their lot next door and waited for it to freeze. While growing up, he worked odd jobs around town to make money such as, setting up pins at the local bowling alley, digging graves, climbing utility towers to maintain them and de-tasseling corn. In 3rd grade, he and his friend would draw the holiday art on a large chalkboard in his school room. His mom passed away when he was only 12 years old and when he was 18, his dad passed away. Even after all of that, he was determined to set positive goals for himself. One of his most recent goals in his life was to make it to his 90th birthday and because he was such an incredible fighter, he made it. He joined the United States Air Force back in 1950 and worked on a then top-secret cold war era operation in Alaska. He met his soul mate, Dottie, on a blind date December 30, 1953. He showed up in a beautiful blue sweater and she was hooked. They spent their 1st New Year’s Eve together the next night, dining and dancing; she even spilled champagne on him and it didn’t bother him at all. Seven months later they were married. He always showed how much he adored her and continually showed his love. She never had to question his love for her. This July would have been 66 years of marriage. He worked as a signalman for the Illinois Central Railroad and later attended LSU. He graduated with straight A’s in Electrical Engineering in just 3 short years. After graduation, he landed a job at Shell Oil Refinery in Norco, Louisiana as an Electrical Engineer and worked for them for 30 years and he enjoyed his relationships with his co-workers. Even after surviving a 13,800 volt of electricity on a Shell project, he retired 11 years later at the age of 58. Together they had 3 children, Dani, Dawn and Dave, who all feel truly blessed to have the love and support of their parents. All 3 of them still live close by. While they were growing up, his focus was spending quality time with his children. Some of our favorite memories are holding his hand, listening to his creative & animated story telling, Shadow Puppets, bike rides to the little blue store, Boy & Girl Scout gatherings, Daddy watching our dancing recitals, magic tricks, helping us with homework – especially those math word problems, enjoying his love for cooking, playing pool, watching Saints games every Sunday as a family, enjoying his love for LSU sports, traveling the United States in our camper every year for the month of July, listening to his beautiful whistling ability, swimming, feeding the ducks and watching the annual showing of “Wizard of Oz” under tents are just to name a few. His optimistic view on life was the best lesson he ever taught his kids, along with showing us how a Dad’s love should be. After the kids were all grown, he toured the world with his Dottie and created memories that lasted a lifetime. He and Dottie also were one of the first volunteers at The Aquarium of the Americas and served for 25 years. In his spare time, he enjoyed painting, for which he had an amazing and beautiful talent, drawing, woodworking, playing golf and bowling. He is Pawpaw to 6 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren. He brought so much love, warmth and dry humor to any situation and no one was as funny as Pawpaw. He taught us all that life is so uncertain and always joked about going ahead and eating dessert first. Daddy was always doing projects in his workroom and the wonderful smell of sawdust was always present. He also instilled in us to measure twice and cut once, which can be used in all facets of life. He loved drinking his “very hot” coffee and never wanted to miss a meal at the scheduled time. We are all better people to have known him and we miss him terribly.
David is survived by his loving wife Dottie Renegar Hutton, his daughter Dani Winterhalter, his daughter Dawn Patorno and husband Steve Patorno, his son David R. Hutton and wife Michelle Hutton, grandchildren Robert Vela and wife Dawn Vela, Aimee Hebert and husband Brent Hebert, Steven Patorno, Kimberly Patorno and husband Joshua Terry, Katherine Hutton and fiancé Dylan Adams, and David M. Hutton, his great grandchildren Taylor Vela and wife Sara Vela, Victoria Vela, Ashley Vela, Austin Vela, Rylee Hebert, Jaxen Hebert, his great-great grandchildren Hayden Vela and Jocelyn Vela and the Renegar Family.
He is preceded in death by his mother Emma Prevette Hutton, his father Ross Hutton, his sisters and brother, and his son-in-law Mike Winterhalter.
Service will be private.
The family invites you to share your thoughts, fond memories, and condolences online at www.lakelawnmetairie.com
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