Funeral services will be held Tuesday in St. Albert for former Volunteeer Citizen of the Year and well-known businessman Harry Hutchings, who died Wednesday from Alzheimer’s. He was 85.
Harry and his wife Margaret were owners of Hutchings Shoes, which was a mainstay of Grandin Park Plaza, until the couple retired in 1995. Shoppers who remember the store remember Harry as the outspoken one, who always had a word of good cheer for everyone.
“It didn’t matter whether he knew you or not. Wherever he was in the mall you’d hear his voice calling out hello to people. He was always friendly and chatting up everyone,” Margaret Hutchings recalled, as she explained that she seldom came out front in the store, but instead worked behind the scenes doing the books.
Margaret, daughter Karen and long-time employee Doug Peterson gathered Thursday afternoon to share their memories of working with Harry.
The shoe store was central to almost every sentence they uttered because the business was their life for so many years. Along with stories about the store came memories of hard work, laughter and Harry’s giving nature.
Peterson thanked Harry for being a caring man, who gave him work and taught him his trade.
“I lost my dad in April 1974 when I was 14,” said Peterson. “Harry took me under his wing and made me a stock boy.”
Soon after Peterson left high school, Hutchings gave him the responsibility of managing the store.
“I remember he took me down to the Orange Julius and sat down with me. He told me ‘You’ll never be a millionaire but you’ll never be poor.’ ” Peterson said, adding that he stayed with Hutchings for 21 years until the store closed.
Hutchings was born in Newfoundland and finished Grade 10 before leaving that province to make a living. One of his first jobs in 1949 was as a shoe clerk for Agnew Surpass Shoes in Toronto.
“That’s where we met. We were married in 1952,” said Margaret.
Harry stayed with that company and learned the business until branching out on his own to open his store in 1967 in Grandin.
“That was a scary time for us. But Harry was tired of working in a chain store and wanted to go on his own. He figured it was an opportunity and away we went,” said Margaret, adding that it took time to get the business established.
“We rented a house for about five years before we were able to purchase our own,” she said.
Breakfast Lions
Harry was very active in the community both as a member of the Breakfast Lions Club and in the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce.
“His heart was in Newfoundland but St. Albert was his home,” said daughter Karen.
He served as president of the Lions Club and was awarded the Melvin Jones Fellowship award from Lions Clubs International. He was named St. Albert’s Volunteer Citizen of the Year in 1988.
“He worked with the Lions Club on so many projects, including building the senior citizens’ club. He collected eyeglasses for distribution by the Lions Club and he loved helping with the pancake breakfast during the rodeo,” Karen said.
Often he helped people quietly, with no fanfare, and often with no return.
“I remember this man from Newfoundland was on his way to Fort McMurray. Someone told him to stop in and see this fellow in St. Albert, and he did, and he asked Harry if he could borrow $150 until he got paid,” Margaret said.
“Harry gave him the money. That’s how much trust he had in people, but that guy is still travelling and Harry never saw him again,” she said.
Family members also remembered how much fun it was to be with Harry. He was always working hard but he played hard, too. He liked to hunt and fish and if there was a party, Harry was often the one to provide the jokes and the music.
“He could play the piano, the accordion and the harmonica,” his daughter said as Peterson remembered how his former boss always had a ready joke for everyone.
“He had a wall of jokes in the shop. Harry was the party and if there was no party, he made the party,” Peterson said, adding that while his old boss was a joker, he could laugh when the tables were turned.
“He had this prized gold Cadillac. One time two of his friends sandwiched him between them when he was going through the carwash. They opened his doors and let the soap and water in while Harry just sat there and laughed,” he said.
Harry Hutchings is survived by his wife Margaret, daughter Karen, daughter-in-law Linda, five grandchildren and by two sisters and one brother. He was predeceased by his son David.
A celebration of life service will take place Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 11 a.m. at Connelly-McKinley Funeral Home.
