More detail on this person: William R.
Hutchison was born in Wheatland, NM on March
16, 1933, passed away on March 12, 2016, at 82
years. He was preceded in death by his infant
son, Charles R Hutchison who was only 2 days old;
parents, Charles Hutchison and Florence Murdick
Hutchison; sisters, Viola H Thomas and Pauline H
Smith; brothers, Charles, James & Albert
Hutchison.
He is survived by his wife, Carol Blankenship
Hutchison after being married 59 years; sons, Wes
and Joel Hutchison; nieces, Susan Smith Engle
and Karen Hutchison; nephews, Rodney Smith,
Karl and Charles Hutchison; and his many loving
cousins and friends.
Services will be conducted by his cousin, Rick
Hutchison, at Muffley Funeral Home Chapel, on
Saturday, March 19, 2016, at 1 pm. William will be
laid to rest at the Grady Cemetery, located near
his childhood home.
William was the youngest of six children and grew
up on a wheat farm in New Mexico. He may have
been the little brother but he was very much a
giant in many people's lives. After he met his
wonderful wife Carol, he pursued his dream and
took his family with him to where ever the job
was. William's first job as a pilot had him flying
a helicopter to lay cable up Sandia Peak for the
tramway. His next job was for Air America which
resulted in him taking the family to live in
Thailand for 9 years.
He flew rescue and covert missions in Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. He worked closely
with the CIA with mission planning and
coordinating for the war effort. He had many, many
close calls in which his aircraft was hit multiple
times by gunfire and he survived crash landings.
He received an accommodation from the Air Force
for finding and rescuing two of their F-4 fighter
pilots who had been shot down. His bravery
performing his job would save lives and serve his
country. Most people would be surprised that
William lived and worked in so many places from
New Mexico to Alabama, Florida, Colorado,
Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Thailand, Laos,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, Panama,
Venezuela, Surinam, China, The Bahamas,
Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands and Nome,
Alaska. He commented how beautiful the Northern
Lights were dancing overhead while he was flying
at about 10,000 feet and 40 degrees below zero.
Incredible. Whenever asked, the children were
always so proud to say "My Dad's a Pilot". William
could never truly appreciate how much he enriched
their lives with his experience, intelligence, wit
and drive. They saw him as FEARLESS!
Arrangements have been entrusted to Muffley
Funeral Home. 575 762-4435
muffleyfuneralhome.com
Published in the Clovis News Journal on Mar. 15,
2016
Burial: Grady City Cemetery, Grady, Curry County,
New Mexico, USA
Burial information: Grady City Cemetery, Grady, NM
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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