William N. Hutchinson

Of Arlington Heights

William N. Hutchinson (Bill) was born on September 1, 1931 in Creston, Iowa to Elmer Nelson and Evangeline Valeria (nee Bray) Hutchinson. He died Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at Church Creek Healthcare Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Bill grew up on a farm near Cromwell, Iowa and attended a one-room elementary school a mile from home. His farmhouse had kerosene lamps for light and a pump in the backyard for water. Bill spent his boyhood and teen years tending the livestock and driving the tractor. One year, he worked with his father to build a new barn. After graduating from high school, he served in the Navy as a storekeeper on the USS Prairie during the Korean War. He returned to Creston after his Navy service and married Joyce Leila Larkin on Dec. 23, 1955, at the First Christian Church.

Bill completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. It was there where their children Richard and Janet were born in 1956 and 1958. Their daughter Kathryn (Kate) was born in 1960 in Washington, Iowa where Bill took his first position as a guidance counselor at the high school.

Bill and Joyce moved to Elk Grove Village, Illinois, in 1962 when Bill was hired to start the Guidance Department at Springman Junior High School in Glenview. Joyce and Bill’s son Keith was born in Arlington Heights in 1963. Bill was a counselor and taught social studies and English at Springman until his retirement in 1991.

After Joyce was diagnosed with kidney failure, she and Bill became the first home dialysis team from Evanston Hospital in 1970. Bill and Joyce practiced home dialysis three evenings each week while actively parenting their four children in their schooling and activities. They spent many hours as a family hiking in local parks and watching birds in their backyard feeders. Joyce underwent a kidney transplant in 1982 and died of complications in 1983.

After the loss of Joyce, Bill married Jenny Larkin Claycomb in 1984, and they moved to Mesa, Arizona in 1991. Bill and Jenny spent many years hiking the mountains, traveling around the world, and taking long road trips to visit their many family members. Upon Jenny’s death in 2012, Bill moved back to Illinois, where he spent the last years of his life at Church Creek Retirement Center, being visited by his children and old friends.

Bill was active for most of his life with the Disciples of Christ Christian Church. He was a lover of nature, which was enhanced by his living for many years in Elk Grove near the Busse Woods Forest Preserve. He was an avid reader of history, especially Early American, and devoted many years to researching and writing about his own family’s genealogy.

Bill is survived by his children Richard Hutchinson, Janet (William) Lundeberg, Kate Hutchinson and Keith (Dana Hendrix) Hutchinson; his grandchildren John Lundeberg (fiancée Amanda Musolf), Daniel Lundeberg, Samantha (Chad) Cloud-Miller, Kate Barnekow, and Ramon Torres, as well as his great-grandson Keith Baxter. Bill is also survived by many step-children and grandchildren from his second marriage, including Roger Michael (Barbara Chaffin) Claycomb, Angela Christine Claycomb, Scott Claycomb, and Curtis (fiancée Trolena Underwood) Claycomb, and many step-grandchildren and great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his first wife Joyce, his second wife Jenny, his parents, and seven siblings.

All services and interment will be held privately.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to any charities that benefit our natural world, such as the National Parks Foundation, the Audubon Society, or the Friends of the Cook County Forest Preserves, would be appreciated.

Funeral Information and condolences can be given at www.GlueckertFuneralHome.com or (847) 253-0168.