Mary I. Hutchinson

She was born Mary Irene Priebe on November 27, 1928 in Montebello, California to William F. (Bill) Priebe and Ida H. Fulton Priebe. Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Howard “Hutch” Hutchinson; and her eldest son William “Bill” Hutchinson.

She is survived by her sister Cathy Ponce “Katie”; daughter-in-law Lourdes Hutchinson;

son Steve (Sandi) Hutchinson; daughter Lori (Ralph) Roberts; six grandchildren; Thomas, Sergio, Brian, April, Andrew and Michael; ten great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.

As a toddler, Mary enjoyed playing with her dolls and having tea parties with them. She enjoyed tap dancing. Mary went to work at the young age of 13, at the local diner in Montebello.

She attended Montebello High School, where she enjoyed being involved in clubs and school newspaper. She graduated in 1946.

In 1946, Mary met Howard “Hutch” Hutchinson. They were married on June 4, 1949, and together they spent more than 70 years building a wonderful life. They raised their 3 children, Bill, Steve, and Lori in Whittier, California.

Mary cared for her children and worked alongside her husband at their business, Potts Radio & TV Repair shop in Montebello for 29 years. There she developed many skills, including customer service, bookkeeping, sales and transistor radio repair. At the same time, she would manage to carpool her children to sports, scouts and other activities and come home and put dinner on the table. She also enjoyed bowling, swimming and shopping.

During the mid-1980’s, she and Hutch sold their home and business and relocated to “the river”.

Mary believed in enjoying life, and she certainly did. She and Hutch spent many happy years at the “Water Wheel”, a community located on the Colorado River. They enjoyed fishing, boating, and exploring the area in their dune buggy with family and friends.

A few years later she and Hutch relocated to Laughlin, Nevada where Mary found her passion working at the Ramada Express Hotel and Casino from 1988 until 2003. She was an original crewmember who began her career there, as a hostess in the Dining Car. She worked herself through the ranks to become a supervisor in the buffet. Her last position was that of Wedding Consultant/Coordinator when she retired in 2003. It was said that Mary was not one able to sit back and watch life. She was reliable, detail oriented, and took much care in doing her job. She was a loyal and dedicated employee.

After retirement, she and Hutch made their permanent home at Big River, California. They took great pride in renovating their modest home and yard, never stopping. In January of 2020, Hutch passed away and Mary moved to Ontario, California.

Mary was a remarkably good, hardworking and fun-loving person. She had a sense of humor and a beautiful smile. She was a perfectionist, always neat and tidy. Above all, Mary believed in family, faith, hard work, and independence.

She always said “family is the most important thing in life”; “you get out of life what you put into it”; “life is short, so enjoy it while you can!”