Joan Hutchinson

Joan Downey Hutchinson, a longtime resident of the Jacksonville Beaches, died March 12, 2020, at age 91. A native of Columbus, Ohio, she moved to Jacksonville with her family as a teenager in the 1940s and graduated from St. Paul’s Catholic School in Riverside. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Jacksonville University, she taught English at Terry Parker High School. She then earned a master’s degree in library science from Florida State University and worked as a school librarian at Love Grove Elementary, Fletcher Senior High, West Riverside Elementary, and Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary before her retirement in 1993.

Survivors include a son, Neal Hutchinson (Kathryn) of Jacksonville Beach; two daughters, Carol Hutchinson of Alexandria, VA, and Ann Hutchinson Duff of Jacksonville Beach; a grandson, Ian Duff of Chevy Chase, MD; two granddaughters, Hailey Hutchinson of Hindsville, AR, and Emily Richardson of Kauai, HI; a son-in-law, Kevin Duff of Jacksonville Beach; and a daughter-in-law, Chris Hutchinson of Atlantic Beach. She was predeceased by a daughter, Pamela, and a son, Bill.

A  private burial service will be held in the Jane Helton Memorial Garden at St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 465 11th Avenue North, Jacksonville Beach, with the Rev. Mal Jopling officiating.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Beaches Dial-a-Ride, 281 19th Avenue South, Jacksonville Beach 32250 or at https://www.beachescoa.com.