Stuart McDonald Hutchison

Stuart McDonald Hutchison, 77, of Berthoud, Colorado, passed away peacefully on December 6, 2015, with his daughters by his side. A devoted father and grandfather, as well as esteemed architect, Stuart was also a dedicated civic leader, adored teacher, and internationally published cartoonist. Stuart was born March 7, 1938, in Liverpool, England. He attended boarding school at Great Walstead School in Sussex, during which time he also performed around the country on the Vaudeville stage with his father, comedian Harry Tate, Jr. He completed the British Midshipman Training Program with the Royal Navy, before moving to the United States where he attended Southwest High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated in 1959 with Honors in Architecture from Princeton University, and later received his M.F.A. at the same university's Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, as a D'Amato Scholar. There he was an editor of the century old humor magazine, The Princeton Tiger, and recipient of a Tiger Award for outstanding service to the University. During graduate school, he served as a reservist in the U.S. Army 101st Airborne at Fort Leonard Wood and in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1963, he married Sarah V. Barnes and began a distinguished career in architecture, which would last over fifty years. The couple raised their two daughters in Kansas City, where the family belonged to the Country Club Christian Church. In 1999, Stuart moved to Johnstown, Colorado, where he was married to Trish M. Kliene until 2012. Together they attended St. Albans' Episcopal Church, in nearby Windsor. Talented and immensely creative, Stuart co-founded the architectural firm of McCoy Hutchison Stone, which later became Stuart Hutchison Architects. He served as the Architect of Record on multiple award-winning projects within Missouri, including design of the University of Missouri at Columbia's School of Law; the Roaring River State Park Lodge, in Cassville; the Frank Crowell Wing at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in Kansas City; and the Westport Square Marketplace, also in Kansas City. He was especially proud of the schools he designed, including three for the severely disabled in Higginsville, Nevada, and Marshall. Throughout the country, Stuart designed numerous private residences, churches, and commercial buildings. He believed strongly in the importance of open lighting and incorporated into all of his designs as many skylights, circular windows, and atrium openings as possible. This was especially evident in his designs of restaurants, such as the Prospect of Westport, which helped pave the way for more open and well-lit restaurants in Kansas City. Throughout his career, Stuart received countless awards for outstanding urban design, including a highly coveted Honorable Mention in the heated design competition for the Pompidou Center in Paris. In 1988, the Missouri Council of Architects named him Missouri Architect of the Year. Stuart was extraordinarily dedicated throughout his life to community and professional service. He brought leadership to organizations too numerous to mention, including serving as President of the Kansas City chapter of the American Institute of Architects (A.I.A.); the Friends of Art of the Nelson-Atkins Museum; and the University Associates of the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC). He also served as Vice President of the Westport Tomorrow Neighborhood Development Board; as a Trustee for seven years of the Bacchus Cultural and Educational Foundation; and as a board member of UMKC's Friends of the Library. His leadership as chairman of an evaluation committee of Kansas City public schools led to multi-million dollar renovations and an expansion of facilities throughout the city. In Colorado, he presided over the Johnstown-Milliken Chamber of Commerce following five years of service on its board, and received the Beth Whitmore Community Service Award for outstanding service to those neighboring towns. Stuart believed fervently in historic preservation of our architectural heritage. He undertook many such projects, from designing the post office and reception center in historic Arrow Rock, Missouri, to saving the terra cotta façade of a historic building being replaced by a big box store. He served for eight years on the Missouri Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, and most recently on the board of the Johnstown Historical Society in Colorado. Throughout his career, Stuart generously shared his expertise with others. For over ten years, students universally adored him as an Honorarium Instructor in the University of Colorado- Boulder's College of Architecture and Planning. He was honored there as Honorarium Instructor of the Year in 2002. Prior to that, he taught for five years in the graduate College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Kansas University. He also received an A.I.A. ""Communiversity"" Teaching Service Award for his Architectural History and Interior Design course at UMKC. Stuart never saw a day in which he did not pick up a pen to create something. He delighted friends and family with his own uniquely creative greeting cards or posters, often featuring some gentle ribbing of the recipient engaged in work or a favorite hobby. He also shared his quick-witted sense of humor with devoted followers of his cartoons. In periodicals circulated worldwide, Stuart published numerous drawings and editorial cartoons, always under the name of HUTCH. His command of architectural graphics was equally as extraordinary, perhaps best captured in his award winning ""Celebration of Architecture"" graphic chosen for the A.I.A. National Convention of 1979. Stuart loved his model wooden boats, a good game of chess, mountain hikes, and jazz classics. He completed multiple marathons and took his young daughters on countless camping trips in their beloved vacation state of New Mexico. His clients appreciated his keen ability to help them visualize their project through cardboard scale models and colorful, hand-drawn renderings; he had very little use for computer-assisted- drawing machines. He had a hugely generous heart, a wonderful laugh, and always a delightful sparkle in his eye. Above all, Stuart was a loving, loyal, and devoted father and grandfather to the family he leaves behind: daughter Vivian Hutchison and her partner, Jeffrey Falgout, of Littleton, Colorado; daughter Eliza Ketchum, and son-in-law Ryan Ketchum, of London, England; and grandchildren Tyler Barnes and Kelsey Vivian Ketchum. A service celebrating Stuart's life will be held at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, December 29, at St. Albans' Episcopal Church, 311 6th Street, Windsor, Colorado, 80550, 970-686-9658, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, Stuart would be honored if donations were made in his name to the Johnstown Historical Society, 701 Charlotte Street, Johnstown, Colorado, 80534, 970-587-0278. Stuart's spirit will assuredly and resolutely live on through his children and grandchildren, as well as through his legacy of groundbreaking contributions to the field of architecture. Even so, all who knew and loved Stuart surely will miss him beyond measure.