Patricia (Tricia) (Touchette) Hutchinson |
| Posted 2014-12-17 by Sharla |
| The Verde Independent, Cottonwood, Arizona Tuesday, December 16, 2014 Patricia Touchette Hutchinson, 66, of Clarkdale passed away in her childhood home in Kingman, Arizona, on December 11, 2014 following a courageous battle with cancer. She held a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education from University of Arizona, and was a proud Arizona Wildcat. She received her Master's in Elementary Education, with an emphasis in Gifted Education from Northern Arizona University. She complete most of an EdD in Curriculum and Instruction from NAU in Gifted Education with an Anthropology Emphasis, and held an Administrative Certificate. She taught for almost 43 years. With a passion for children, she was a natural and dedicated educator. She made no distinction between her home in the classroom and her home anywhere else in the world. Tricia was born in Santa Paula, California to Clifford Lawrence Touchette and Emma Joanne Duff on April 21, 1948. She grew up in Kingman, Arizona. Tricia was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nuku'alofa, Tonga from 1971-75, where she taught art classes at Tonga High School, and met her husband of 40 years. Together, they traveled throughout the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Central Europe collecting memories, and the souvenirs for the walls of their home. Drawn to island life, Tricia taught at Kealakehe Elementary School in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and participated in the annual Ironman Triathlon. The family moved back to Arizona in 1985 where Tricia taught Special Education at Cottonwood Elementary School, led the Advanced Learners Program (ALP) in the newly built Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary School, and eventually followed her own children to Cottonwood Middle School, where she would spend many of her 27 years with the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District. As the ALP District Coordinator, she worked with gifted cluster classes and teachers, at all five schools, throughout the district. Additionally, she lead or joined projects, including Odyssey of the Mind, Hands Across the Border, Spring Break Trips to Peru, Boston & New York, Student Council, Friday Morning Video, MathCounts, Robotics, and the Yearbook. She painted murals of distance adventures on the walls around the CMS campus and encouraged her students to "Think Big." Many former and current colleagues and students enjoyed a celebration with her at her retirement party at Cottonwood Middle School on Tuesday, November 25. Geography was her passion. She spent more than 20 years with the Arizona Geographic Alliance, and developed cross-cultural and geography lessons for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at U of A, travelling to Cyprus and throughout the United States. In October 2014, Tricia received the Arizona Council for the Social Studies Isadore Starr Award. Tricia coached an AYSO girls' soccer team for years and sat on the board. She brought her children and grandchildren up in the sport as well. She spent time water coloring, making jam, sewing first her children's clothing and later holiday stockings for Made in Clarkdale, knitting afghans, studying genealogy, spoiling her three dogs, pulling weeds in the yard, and doing constant remodeling jobs at home. She loved to travel, and had been to every continent except Antarctica. She touched the hearts and minds of many students and fellow educators with her positivity, encouragement, strength and joy for learning with others. Her smile and laugh were contagious, and her compassionate spirit will be remembered. She was immeasurably proud of her own children and grandchildren, as well as students that she grew close to over the years. She is survived by her husband Jonathan Hutchinson, son Nathan Hutchinson (Las Vegas, Nevada - Carrie), daughter Sierra Hutchinson (Denver, Colorado), and grandchildren Cameron and Kylie Hutchinson, siblings Nancy Robison (Johnstown, Pennsylvania), Michael Touchette (Tecumseh, Oklahoma - Lynn), and Barbara Touchette (Kingman, Arizona). A service in memory of Tricia Touchette Hutchinson's life will take place Saturday, December 20, 2014 at 1 pm at the Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church, 330 Scenic Drive, Clarkdale, AZ 86324. In lieu of flowers, community members are invited to donate to a fund to celebrate ideals she held dear. We invite extended family, friends and community members to join us in celebrating the beauty and light that she brought to our lives at a ceremony in the new year, at a date and time to be determined. Please contact family members to be including in the planning. |
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