Dorothy M. Hutto

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”. Dorothy M. Hutto, 101 years old of Gaston, SC peacefully passed away on Thursday, August 18th. Born on Friday, April 15, 1921 in Vance County North Carolina, she was the daughter of Lucy West Abbott and Erastus Abbott. Raised in a bustling family of 17 children, she grew up on a tobacco farm near Henderson, NC and attended the Charles B. Aycock School. On Friday, Sept 13, 1941, she boarded a Greyhound bus bound for Columbia, SC to visit a friend and met James E. Hutto, a soldier from Ft. Bragg on his way home to see his family in Gaston, SC. The two would fall in love, marry, have three little girls together and spend 69 years in a relationship that only grew sweeter with time. On a cold winter night in 1943, a friend invited Dorothy to a revival meeting at The Tabernacle Baptist church in Henderson where Rev. A. W. Icard preached the gospel and she gave her life to Jesus. Her new life in Christ was defined by the call to teach His Word; specifically, pictures and foreshadows of Jesus as found in the books of the Old Testament and most predominantly in “The Tabernacle in the Wilderness”. Teaching the Word of God was her passion, and our family has inherited a library of handwritten notebooks filled with rich truths gleaned from the Holy Spirit in hours of study and prayer. The Lord blessed her with a life rich in faith, family, and friends. She traveled and saw much of the world. She was a skilled seamstress, an excellent cook, a devoted wife and mother, a compassionate friend and a powerful prayer warrior who gave the first hours of each day to the Word of God and “the important privilege of intercessory prayer”. She was predeceased in death by her husband James E. Hutto and twelve precious brothers and sisters. She is survived by her three daughters Sylvia Ritchie of Wilmington, NC, Gloria Jeffers of Gaston, SC, Jamie (Gerry) Egan of Raleigh, NC, two sisters, Patricia Ellington and Frances Abbott of Henderson, NC, two brothers, Thurston (Willie) Abbott of Henderson, NC and Hubert Abbott of Garner, NC and some loving grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. If you asked her how she wanted to be remembered, Mama would smile and say, “I want people to know that I loved Jesus and I loved people”. Services will be held at Antioch Baptist Church – 1477 W. E. Jeffcoat Road- Gaston, SC Tuesday, August 23rd at 2:00 PM. For the health and safety of those attending, the family respectfully asks that masks be worn. Pre-service viewing 1:00-1:45 in sanctuary. In lieu of flowers, Dorothy would have appreciated and the family requests that memorials be made to Samaritan’s Purse. Culler-McAlhany Funeral Home (www.mcalhanyfuneralhome.com) is in charge of arrangements.