George N. Hutton, Junior, passed away peacefully on Friday, February 14, 2014 after a brief illness. George was born November 27, 1929 to G. Norman Hutton, II and Opal B. Hutton. He attended Hickory, N.C. public schools until high school where he attended Sewanee Military Academy graduating in 1948. While at Sewanee he was an accomplished athlete excelling in boxing as a Golden Glove and at football. He married Martha (Muggins) Bowman, his childhood sweetheart December 27, 1950 who he cherished for more than 63 years. George attended The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a football scholarship but was sidelined due to illness. While at Chapel Hill he was the Battalion Commander of the University Air Force ROTC unit. A true entrepreneur, he worked for the local telephone company as a lineman while in school as Muggins taught piano and made sandwiches which George sold at fraternity houses. When he graduated with a BS degree in economics, he and Muggins left Chapel Hill in a new Cadillac convertible purchased from the fruits of their labors to start their life in Hickory North Carolina. George managed Hutton and Bourbonnais Company, a successful wood products and building supply firm founded by his grandfather, George I in 1898, for 21 years. His entrepreneurial spirit not completely satisfied, George participated in the founding and operations of many businesses over the years including: Decor Originals, Hyland Porcelain, Comm Scope Corporation, Hutton Furniture Company, Hickory Telephone Company, Catawba Concrete Products, Precision Industries, Children's Park, and G.N. Hutton Company. His business acumen was well known and his counsel much sought after. He served as a Director of Centel Corporation which was acquired by Sprint Corporation for twenty-six years where he chaired the audit and finance committee and was the youngest director in its history. He also served on other boards as a director and chairman such as Chairman of Comm Scope for two years, M/A Com Inc. for fifteen years, Chairman of Diamond Communication Products for two years, and the First National Bank of Catawba County for six years. An avid pilot for most of his life who learned to first love aviation from one of the first pilots in Hickory, his uncle Ralph Warren Hutton, George was a multi-engine rated pilot and became jet qualified at age 60. Always interested in water sports and activities, he was an accomplished sea captain and navigator. George was a Korean War veteran and dragged Muggins in the trailer they lived in from Maine to Florida while a First Lieutenant in the Air Force.
What mattered most to George was his family. Muggins and George have four sons: George (Rusty) Hutton IV; R. Bryan Hutton; Warren A. Hutton; J. Wood (Woody) Hutton. They have 10 grandchildren: Stacie Amanda Williams; Ashley Stringfellow; Courtney Lea Hutton; Emily A. Hutton; James W. Hutton George N. Hutton V; Betsey S. Hutton; Bryan J. Hutton; Martha (Maggie) A. Hutton and Jackson R Hutton. Muggins and George are also blessed to have four great-grandchildren: Anna Claire Stringfellow; Samuel H. Williams V; E. Hutton Stringfellow; and Harper Hutton Williams. As interested in giving back to his community as he was in business, he served on the boards of numerous civic organizations and was a lifelong generous supporter of Sipes Orchard home in Conover, NC, the first orphanage in Catawba County.
The family will receive friends Thursday, February 20, 2014 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at Howard Price Funeral Home 754 U.S. Highway One, North Palm Beach, Florida. The family will inter his ashes in Oakwood Cemetery in Hickory N.C. after a memorial service at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Saturday March 1 2014, at 1:00pm and receive friends in Hickory at Bass Smith Funeral Home following the interment from 2:00pm – 4:00pm
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made in George’s memory to Sipes Orchard Home 4431 County Home Rd, Conover, NC 28613.
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