Esther Lauer Hutchings, most recently of Hudson, NH, died at Merrimack Valley Hospice on June 18th of Cardiopulmonary Disease. Recently predeceased by her husband, David William Hutchings, Sr. after 59 years of marriage, Esther was a member of Windham Presbyterian Church. A memorial service and celebration of her life will be held at the Church, located at 1 Church Rd. in Windham on Saturday, June 22 at 11am. A luncheon reception will follow the service.
Born on October 8, 1924 in New York City to Estonian immigrants, Alvine (nee Neumann) and George Lauer, Esther grew up in Teaneck, NJ in the 1920s, Montgomery, NY in the 1930s, followed by Englewood, NJ. She earned a BA in English at Wheaton College in Illinois. She lived at “Katherine House” in Greenwich Village, worked as a secretary for Standard Oil, and attended Calvary Baptist Church until she met and married David William Hutchings on September 8, 1953. They had a daughter, Barbara Lynn and moved from Montclair, NJ to Yellowstone National Park, then to Denver where a second daughter, Katherine Anne was born. After two and a half years in Mount Pleasant, Utah, and the birth of a son, David William, Jr., the family returned to New Jersey in 1960, eventually settling in Verona, NJ where they raised their three children. The family was active at Grace Presbyterian Church in Montclair, NJ, where Esther served as a church secretary for many years. She later served as Donor Relations Coordinator for Sudan Interior Mission. Esther also volunteered as a Brownie and Girl Scout troop leader. Many summers were spent in National Parks (Great Smokey Mountains, and later, Acadia) where David, Sr. worked as a seasonal campground ranger. After their children had left home, David and Esther were active in the Evangelical Free Church in Essex Fells, NJ. In 1995, Esther and David retired to Gorham Maine where they attended South Gorham Baptist Church, and volunteered at the Root Cellar, an inner city ministry in Portland. Esther was also a member of the Christian Classics Book Discussion Club. In July 2010 they moved to Highland Woods, Hudson, NH, and joined the Windham Presbyterian Church where Esther was active on the Missionary Committee and David sang in the choir. Esther is survived by her three children, Barbara Lynn Hutchings (‘Lynn’) of Scranton, PA; Katherine Anne (‘Kate’) Porter, of Randolph Vermont; and David William Hutchings (‘Bill’) and his wife, Michele (‘Mike’) of Windham, NH. She also is survived by five grandchildren, Emily Katherine, Madeline Christie, David Joseph, Andrew Hutchings and Samuel Tucker Riley.
There will be a Memorial Service and Celebration of the life of Esther Hutchings at Windham Presbyterian Church, 1 Church Rd., Windham, NH 03087 on Saturday, June 22 at 11 am, followed by a buffet lunch. Interment will be in the Memorial Garden at Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, NJ at a date to be determined. Memorial contributions may be made to World Vision, PO Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063; or sent to World Vision c/o Windham Presbyterian Church.