Betsy Napier Hutchison

Betsy Napier Hutchison, of Lakewood, Colorado Born June 17, 1936, in Winchester, Massachusetts to Charles and Harriet Sparks. Passed into eternal love and light December 21, 2016 at the age of 80 following an illness. She is survived by her husband of 55 years James, daughters Sharon, Valerie and Pamela and their families including grandchildren: Isabelle, Christopher, Lindsay, William, and Robert. Betsy grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and graduated from Punchard High School (Class of 1954). Then she was accepted to the nursing program at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. During her studies there, she made many lifelong friends. Four of which would accompany her to Denver after receiving their nursing caps and working for a time in Baltimore. The friends initially planned to go West to California, but all were offered jobs in Denver so they accepted and drove out together. At the old St. Luke's Hospital, downtown, Betsy was a dedicated, hard-working, respected staff member who was promoted to head nurse on one of the surgical floors. It was a busy and demanding job, but Betsy loved it. But even with a busy shift schedule, she still had time to meet with friends after work on occasion. It was at a party with her friends that she met James C. Hutchison. He had come with a friend and noticed Betsy. It helped that they were introduced to each other by two of their best friends: Bob and Margie. They were married July 1, 1961 and Bob served as Jim's best man and Margie was Betsy's matron of honor. They were married in a small church in Vermont with a reception in Bennington. After that life for Betsy & Jim really got busy as they welcomed triplet girls into the world on January 26, 1962 only 12 weeks earlier than expected. Betsy and Jim were living in a converted garage at the time. Then Jim received a request from his employer, Ideal Cement to move to Superior Nebraska to assist with a series of modifications to the existing cement plant. The family packed up and moved into a small rental house for families working at the plant. The years the family spent in Superior, flew by and when the girls were about 3 years old the company moved Jim back to Denver. They would spend the next 8 or so years in Denver. Then the family moved to Atlanta, GA for a couple of years. Betsy was busy helping the girls to adjust to a new home and elementary school and while there the family adopted their first dog: a Bedlington Terrier named Princess. Betsy also helped with girl scout projects and enjoyed birdwatching in the family's backyard. Cardinals, Orioles, and Nuthatches were some of her favorites. Living close to Florida had its perks as the family spent a magical vacation at Disney World in Orlando and made trips to Jacksonville beach. Then the family moved back to Denver, where Jim would find the two story house on Hoyt street that Betsy didn't really like at first and was ""only for a few months"" but became a home for 16 years. Betsy loved to walk around Kendrick Lake with Princess who loved to chase the many geese and ducks that were year-round residents of the neighborhood. There was even a mother duck that nested in the family's front yard and paraded her babies across the front step of the house before taking them off to the safety of the lake. Since the girls were growing up, Betsy started helping at the local elementary school as a teacher's aide. She eventually began a part time job with Jeffco Public schools as an aide to the handicapped at Glennon Heights Elementary. She held that position for many years becoming close with teachers, staff, and many of her children's families. She continued to work with her kids at school and support her girls through high school and college. Sharon, Valerie, and Pamela all graduated from college and Valerie went on to get her master's degree. She loved Colorado and the mountains. Many summer vacations were spent camping, fishing and boating at campsites and lakes across Colorado. Rabbit Ears pass and Dumont Lake campground were some of her favorites. In 1992 Ideal was sold and the new company moved Jim and Betsy to Milan, MI a little town outside of Ann Arbor. They found a little house with a big yard and apple trees. Betsy got to feed new birds and enjoy gardening and the annual Ann Arbor Art Festival. They moved back to Denver after about 5 years when Jim retired from his job as head of Engineering. Upon returning to Denver, Betsy and Jim found a ranch style house in Lakewood with a small yard that would be one of Betsy's favorite things. She loved watching the birds out the sliding glass door. Jim put up a wren house and the wrens were frequent visitors to the yard over the years. And of course, she loved all her grandchildren. She proudly showed pictures when she and her friends from Glennon Heights went to breakfast together. She loved to host holiday dinners. And she loved the three Carin terriers she and Jim adopted over the years: Liza, Gabby and Gemma. In 2004, Betsy returned to Andover to attend her 50th high school class reunion. Another highlight was to attend the alumni celebrations for Johns Hopkins school of nursing. She showed the grandkids afterwards a picture in the Johns Hopkins Nursing magazine of the ""turtle races"" performed on the lawn by her friends and classmates. She really enjoyed the reunions. She and her friends would talk for hours late into the night ""catching up"". Betsy and Jim also explored outside of Colorado with visits and vacations to Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Utah, California, and the Pacific Northwest. In 1999 they visited Italy as part of a guided tour group excursion called ""Off the Beaten Path"". Betsy will always be remembered for her compassion, smile, gentle wisdom and caring, whether nursing or being a mom to all her kids. Memorial contributions can be made to United Cerebral Palsy, Collier Hospice Center, or your favorite charity. A memorial service is scheduled on Sunday, January 15, 2017, at One O'clock in the afternoon at the Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 3101 South Wadsworth Boulevard, Lakewood, Colorado. The family invites you to a reception following the memorial service in the Horan & McConaty reception center. Please share your memories of Betsy and condolences for her family by signing the guestbook below.