Florence Hutson

       Florence Hutson of Rantoul, Illinois passed away Saturday September 30, 2023 at the age of 106.  Visitation will be held 10:00-11:00 am Saturday October 14, 2023 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sibley followed by her funeral service at 11:00 am with Pastor Richard Likeness officiating. Burial will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Sibley.  

       Florence was born October 10, 1916 on a farm south of Sibley to Mary and William O. Ackermann, Sr.  She was the fourth of six children--her five siblings were all brothers.  They predeceased her.   Florence graduated from Sibley High School in the Class of 1934.  After graduation, she worked as an au pair near Chicago before returning to Sibley to help care for her ailing mother.  In 1942, she married Lyle Hutson of Colfax.  They farmed east of Sibley until Lyle’s death in 1966.  The Hutsons had one child, David, who lives in Tarrytown, NY with his wife, Mary.  In addition to David and Mary, Florence is survived by two grandchildren, Rachel of Denver, Colorado and Joshua of New Providence, New Jersey.  She has four great-grandchildren.  Rachel Hutson and Tim Habib are the parents of Samuel and Molly.  Joshua and Kate Hutson are the parents of Alexandra and Owen.

       Following her husband’s death, Florence moved to Waverly, Iowa where she was employed by Wartburg College as the Head Resident of Clinton Hall, a men’s dormitory.  Several years later she became the House Manager of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority on the campus of the University of Illinois until her retirement in 1989.  Throughout these twenty plus “college years,” she spent most summers and holidays either in Sibley or with her son and his family in New York.  After retirement, Florence first moved back to Sibley full-time for several years, then to an apartment in Gibson City and finally to the Brookstone Estates assisted living facility in Rantoul in 2007.

       During the years between leaving the farm and moving to Brookstone, Florence traveled throughout the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii.  She also visited several European countries as a member of a college tour group.  Until the end, she was an avid supporter of the Fighting Illini, especially the basketball teams.  Her two other leisure-time passions were playing cards and working crossword puzzles.  Florence was affiliated with St. John’s in Sibley from her baptism on November 12, 1916 until her death.  During the years when she resided in the Sibley area, she was active in the worship life of the congregation and in the church women’s organization.  One hundred years after her baptism, her home church was the site of a really big birthday party in her honor.  It was Florence’s wish that any memorial gifts be given either to St. John’s Lutheran Church or to the Gibson City Hospital.