Norman Reece Hutton

Norman Reece Hutton, 91 years-old, was born on March 24, 1934. Though he fought long and hard, he finally succumbed to the many complications that came with having heart failure. He passed away in the hospital on May 3, 2025 with his family surrounding him.

My dad, Norman, was preceded in death by the love of his life, Shirley, 88; and his son, Doug, 68, in the last two years. Norman is survived by his three grown children: Debbie, Danny, and David. But the story doesn’t end here. Dad also has 12 grandchildren who went on to give him 17 additional great grandchildren! I think it’s safe to say, Dad’s legacy will definitely live on!

As a little boy, Norman had fond memories of growing up on his grandparent’s farm in Cameron, Missouri. He loved chasing his grandma’s chickens around the coup with all his cousins; as well as helping his grandpa squirt milk into barn cats’ mouths while they milked the cows. By the time Norman reached the sixth grade, he and his brother, and mom and dad moved to Lakewood, Colorado. It was here that his dad bought and ran a gas station successfully for a number of years; and it was here in Lakewood, Norman was destined to meet, fall in love with, and marry his high school sweetheart, Shirley.

Norman and Shirley spent just short of 70 years together! During those early years, Norman worked in a little independent grocery store, Wadcol Market, on the corner of Wadsworth and Colfax, in Lakewood. Even back then, he was the hardest working father there ever was. He left for work at the crack of dawn and often didn’t come home until after the kids were in bed. Occasionally, dad would surprise us all and come home for lunch. On those days my brothers and I would place our bare feet in the small of his back while he napped on the floor, giving him our version of a 60-second massage before he had to rush back to work. Always before dad left, he made sure he paid us generously in tickles and hugs! Our pockets might’ve been empty, but our hearts stayed full.

From early on, it wasn’t hard to see how much my dad loved working and living life. In time, he started-up his own business called Timberline Sales. Being a salesman at heart, he successfully sold everything from pantyhose to pork rinds from Denver to Nebraska. Though he often liked telling people his hobby was his job… he still managed to find time for other things too. Spending time relaxing up at the Glenwood Hot Springs pool and lodge was high on his list of favorites. For many years he and my mom bowled together with friends on a weekend league. Mom and Dad also liked playing cards with friends he’d known since his high school days. Norm’s go-to restaurant for eating breakfast out was Village Inn; and for dinner it was the iconic Dino’s Pizza Parlor. Much to our surprise and dismay, dad’s favorite TV show to watch every day was Jerry Springer. We all ran from the room at the very sight of it! Maybe that was my dad’s plan all along?

In between work and play, my dad carved out time for every family celebration. He relished the thought of sipping a cold Coors Banquet beer on the patio while he cooked at all the BBQs mom hosted! I can’t emphasize how much Norm loved both working and just living life. Even in his 80’s he would’ve chosen to forgo retirement and just kept working, but due to my mom’s progressing Alzheimer’s Disease; she needed him at home. His health suffered in the long run and after my mom passed away; a big piece of my dad’s heart went missing, too. After a couple of years of doing his best living life without her, he received his own diagnosis of a failing heart. However, he refused to believe that diagnosis was true for him clear up until his last few days in the hospital.

His whole life, I never really heard my dad speak much of spiritual things. But as his health took a turn for the worst… that changed. The nurses in the hospital confirmed that one morning when they shared with us that they heard dad talking to someone in his room at 4am. When they questioned him about who he was talking too, he responded, “I’m just doing business with The Man Upstairs!”

The night before he passed away, my brother, David, was sitting by my dad’s bedside; when he heard dad telling him, “I can’t get in tonight… the lines are too long.” Dad repeated it twice. David asked him, ‘You can’t get into where?’ To my brother’s surprise, Dad responded, “Heaven!”

I know dad wrestled with God intensely those last couple of days. It’s not easy to turn loose of the life God’s given you… even after 91 years. I will never know what internal conversations and silent soul-talk flowed between earth and heaven… and my dad and His Maker in those last days in the hospital. But I do know that God is faithful to answer the countless prayers that have been prayed for my dad over this last year, asking that “God would not take my dad from this earth until he comes to know Him personally.”

Sitting at his feet and watching my dad in his last moments, a favorite picture of him crossed my mind. I hadn’t thought of it in years. It was a photograph of my dad as a little boy, standing just beyond the front porch of the farmhouse he grew up in; wearing his daddy’s big work shoes. My grandmother, who snapped that picture 87 years ago, once shared with me that little Norman was looking for his daddy that day, who was working in a nearby garden. Two seconds after she snapped this picture, little Norman took off running towards his daddy as fast as little-feet-in-big-shoes could run. By the time he reached his daddy he was wearing a smile from ear to ear… the smile my grandma always said was missing from her picture!

I believe it was God’s Grace that so timely, ushered this picture of my dad into my mind during dad’s last few moments on earth. As we watched dad breathe his last, I can’t help but think that my dad, like little Norman in the photograph… found his Father too. That he wasn’t just slipping away from us when he took his last breath, but that a grown-up, battle-weary Norman, was slipping into his Father’s Shoes at Heaven’s Gate, and running into the Everlasting Arms of His Heavenly Father, with a smile on his face that will last for all Eternity!

“Be still and know I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

“What we think about God is the most important thing about us.” A.W. Tozer

Thank you, Dad...

Thank you for sharing your life with us; and for all of the love you left behind. Though you may have left this world, you will never leave our hearts! We love you, Dad!