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Finally, we lost one of the truly great matriarchs of the ACT community, Marilyn Edwards Harris Hutchinson. Marilyn died on July 29th of natural causes. Along with her late husband, Edward, she had four children: ACT's past Executive Director, Robert "Hutch" Karl Hutchinson (Meg), Douglas Alan Hutchinson (Tammy and Marion), Janet Claire Hutchinson (Quilligan, Dave) and Bruce Clifford Hutchinson (Laura).
Marilyn was always athletic – able to do cartwheels in her 60s, and hiked long distances. The Hutchinson household was all about the joy of learning and travel, with lots of books and long trips to every state. Pets abounded, with dogs, cats, horses, goats, birds, and various fish, rodents, and reptiles over the decades. Marilyn and Edward spent their final two decades at Oak Hammock in Gainesville. They were intrepid travelers, including a year working in China, and visited forty countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, the South Pacific, and the Arctic.
Marilyn taught school in Alachua County, Florida at Duval Elementary, and in the Ashe County North Carolina School system. She was an inspired teacher who deeply cared for her students – often helping them through difficult personal matters.
Marilyn was an artist nearly every day of her life. She was an avid birdwatcher, gardener, and fisherwoman, was a strong swimmer, and has read thousands of books. Marilyn challenged authority all her life in her deep commitment to fairness and accountability – as principals, school board members, and her community’s leaders learned.
Marilyn was buried at Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery next to her husband in a celebration of a strong, intelligent, and beautiful woman who showed us all how to live in these interesting times. For the last thirty years, the charity that manifests Marilyn’s deep love of the natural world was Alachua Conservation Trust. Marilyn, you will be deeply missed.
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