Bernice Evangeline (Malm) Hutchison 1919-2009

Bernice Evangeline (Malm) Hutchison, age 90, daughter of Gustave Leander and Anna (Olson) Malm was born in Topeka, KS on February 17, 1919. She died at the Kabul Nursing Home in Cabool, MO, on May 15, 2009.

Bernice is preceded in death by her parents; two sisters, Ann Tabor and Florence Stevens; a son, Lee Hutchison; and a daughter, Nancy Hutchison.

She is survived by her husband, Homer D. Hutchison of Cabool; two daughters, Deborah Eaton of Poway, CA and Cynthia Hutchison of Prairie Village, KS; seven grandchildren (Julie, Patrick, Bryant, Mark, Todd, Vanessa and Lee) and five great grandchildren (Robert, Alexis, Isabel, Olivia, and Skylar).

Bernice grew up in the country near Topeka, KS. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 1941 and received a Masters Degree in Education from Drury University in 1981. Bernice was the president of her chapter of the National Education Association during her tenure at Houston Elementary School where she loved to teach reading. She retired from teaching in 1988.

She served in the Army at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (now the Pentagon) in Washington, D.C. during WWII and received an honorable discharge and a Good Conduct Medal in 1945.

Bernice married Homer in 1945, when she was in the Army and he was a young sailor. Bernice taught school and accompanied Homer to many interesting duty stations including, Washington State, Southern California, Hawaii, New York, Iceland and Tennessee. After 30 years of military travel, they settled in the countryside between Houston and Cabool, MO., where they farmed for almost thirty years. After their second retirement they spent half the year at the farm and half the year in Florida where they enjoyed the tropical climate.

Bernice was a member of a local quilting guild and enjoyed the fellowship of the quilting ladies who continued to keep track of her through out her illness, especially while she was in the hospital in Florida.

Dykes Cemetery