SHAPLEIGH/SPRINGVALE- Patricia J. Hutchins, age 93, passed away on Saturday, May 25, 2019 at her residence at The Lodges in Springvale, Maine, from age-related complications leading to heart failure. Born in Portland, Maine, on August 7, 1925, Pat was the daughter of Charlotte Winslow Farrin, originally of Damariscotta, and Alton Farrin, originally of South Bristol. She is survived by her sister, Joyce Farrin Lawton, now of Houston, Texas. She was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Harvey Farrin, of Augusta.
Pat grew up in South Bristol and then in South Portland where she graduated class of 1944 from South Portland High School. She attended Nasson College in Springvale and received her associates degree two years later. Pat met Bill Hutchins, her husband-to-be of 68 years, while working in the Sanford textile mill. Bill was a native of Springvale and a veteran of World War II. He would soon begin working in the Springvale Post Office and the couple married in June 1948.
Pat and Bill worked and saved to buy a piece of rural property, eventually securing an FHA loan in 1952 to purchase 140 acres of woodlands and fields in Shapleigh. This would be their home together for 54 years where they raised two sons, Dana Wade and John Winslow Hutchins. In 1959 Pat and Bill began building a house on the site of the old Sayward Farm homestead. In the spring of 1963 the family moved from Roles St. in Springvale into their new home.
In 1960 Pat joined the Springvale First Baptist Church on Main St. A few years later she would be baptized in the church by Reverend Hugh Crouch and become a very active deaconess and leader in the couples service group, the SERECO Club. Pat helped organize and volunteered at most all the church events over more than fifty years, including SERECO Club’s Acton Fair home-made food concession. A favorite of her sons and of many others were the SERECO burgers, a secret recipe that later became known as a sloppy joe. Pat was also an avid swing dancer all her life and could be seen dancing with her son Dana and friends at the Acton Fair in 2017 at the age of 91.
Over the years Pat and her family would improve and maintain the land with flower and vegetable gardens and a large tree farm as wildlife habitat for deer, wild turkeys, pheasant, partridge and other native species. In the late 1960s a half acre wildlife pond was planned and dug behind the house and stocked with trout from the state hatchery. Then in 1970 Pat and Bill started a maple syrup operation, building a rustic evaporator house from timber Bill cut on the property. The couple operated the sugar house for almost 30 years, one of the first such operations in Shapleigh in many years. They often hosted visiting students from Shapleigh Memorial School during maple sugar season.
Pat is survived by her sons, Dana and Dana’s wife, Bessie Moulton of Falmouth, Maine, and by John and his companion, Diane Mitchell of Alfred, along with John’s two daughters (Pat’s granddaughters) Leanne and Emily with John’s former wife, Gina Hutchins.
Pat is also survived by Dana’s step-son, Ren Moulton, his wife, Maura Woodward and their two children, Pat’s step-great grandchildren, Renny and Ella of Brooklyn, NY.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the conservation trust Pat and Bill helped found, the Three Rivers Land Trust, at www.3rlt.org or at Three Rivers Land Trust, P.O. Box 295, Alfred, Maine 04002.
There will be a memorial service on Saturday, June 22, 2PM at the Springvale First Baptist Church, 429 Main St.
Online condolence messages can be submitted at the Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service website, www.mainefuneral.com