Ann died October 24, 2022
She was a wonderful friend – I will miss her greatly.
She was quite a woman. Here is her obituary in today’s Star Tribune
Ann Dickerman Hutchins
Hutchins, Ann Dickerman of Minneapolis peacefully died in her sleep on October 24, 2022 at the age of 87. She is now surely singing with the angels as she planned. She was a beloved mom, grandmother as well as an influential teacher, superb photographer, and Master Gardener, among many other talents. Ann Elizabeth Dickerman was born in New York City on May 2, 1935 and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas as the only child of Bluford and Lois Dickerman. She attended Sunset Hill School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas City, KS, and earned a scholarship to Smith College (c/o ’57), where she majored in economics. Shortly thereafter, she married John Traver Hutchins (“Terry”) of Fond du Lac, WI and they soon started a family in Minneapolis, raising three sons; Traver, Webster, and Grant. Ann began her illustrious 35 year teaching career in 1959 at the Northrop Collegiate School, the historic all-girls school which became part of the Blake Schools in 1974. From 1959 to 1994, Mom Ann taught a wide variety of high school social studies courses, including Ancient and Medieval History, World History, and two of her favorite courses that she developed, Human Anthropology and Exploring Human Nature. She openly shared her joy and passion for learning and discussion about complex issues with her pupils. Further, Mom was a beloved, popular teacher whose vibrant energy, insatiable curiosity, and charismatic personality helped her forge strong relationships with her students. She genuinely cared about her students and they knew this. As an ardent feminist, practicing multi-culturalist, and social justice advocate, she helped generations of Blake students, girls and boys, develop a greater sensitivity to such important matters – she was always ahead of her time. At Blake, Mom’s influential work spread far beyond the classroom. She created numerous new programs that offered Blake students and families a broader, deeper educational experience. In addition to helping build curriculum for a Family Life and Human Sexuality course, Ann pioneered the Student Community Involvement Program in 1972, coordinating and supervising placement of interested students in positions at local hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and other social service community spaces. Ann regularly integrated the students’ experiences into the classroom curriculum, keeping the classroom alive and connected to the real world. In 1974, Ann became the coordinator for the Senior Program, which, again, facilitated further outside the classroom and outside the box learning opportunities for students. Notably, the program grew under her watch and had its highest number of participants the year she retired. In 1977, Ann received the high honor of being selected for the inaugural year of the Joseph Klingenstein Fellowship program at Columbia University’s Teachers’ College, earning a Master’s degree in Ed. Admin. In 1978, Ann developed Blake’s Chemical Health Program from scratch. It was an all-inclusive program for students, staff, and families alike. She made Blake a leader in this area and often traveled to conferences and other schools to share the model she developed. Ann did all of this work on a shoe-string after her divorce in 1970, raising three energetic boys in the big old house on Humboldt Avenue where she lived with us for 56 years. She supported us in all our endeavors. Though she did not have much money on a teacher’s salary, she still managed to keep us active in sports, camps, etc. She shared her love of nature and camping with us constantly. In the early-mid 1970s she took the three of us on three different month long camping trips, to the Rockies one summer, to Europe the next, and then back to the Rockies and all the way out to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula in 1975. She kept closely involved with all three of her boys right to the end of her life and was always there to support and cheer us on. We love her and miss her dearly. Ann was not only an educator, she was a true student of life. Especially after she retired from teaching in 1994, she was an ardent traveler and made dozens of trips to Latin America, particularly Mexico (Chiapas and the Yucatan were her favorites there) and Guatemala, where she as she traveled she combined her interest in anthropology, photography, social justice issues, and more traditional “vacation” activites, like swimming in the ocean and enjoying margaritas with her beloved traveling companions afterwards. Also, after retirement, Ann found more time for her deepest passion, gardening. She loved being on her hands and knees, planting and weeding, and she found great spiritual sustenance in this “work.” Through study at the U of M Horticulture Dept. she received a Master Gardener certification and started a small business called “Gardens by the Yard.” Above all, Ann Hutchins loved people – and people loved her. She could and would talk to anyone anywhere and developed an immense web of friendships with her neighbors, her community, and beyond. She had a deep faith in God which she explored and cultivated throughout her life. She was a brilliant conversationalist, seamlessly intertwining her interest in politics, spirituality, environmentalism, and more, making new friends wherever she went. Her candid authenticity, and her smile, was a beacon to many. Ann was preceded in death by her parents and by her eldest son, Traver, in 2020. Ann is survived by her two sons, Webster of Seattle, Grant of Minneapolis, and her deceased son Traver’s children, Jack, Alley and Davis Hutchins of Connecticut. Her Remembrance Service will be held at the historic Memorial Chapel at Minneapolis’ Lakewood Cemetery on Thursday Nov. 3rd at noon. An informal reception will follow at Lakewood’s Flower Garden Reception building immediately after the service. Flowers are welcome please give them to the attendants at the service and they will all be displayed, primarily at the Reception. In Ann’s memory, memorial donations may be given in her name to Cheley Camp, the summer camp in Estes Park, CO, where she spent three life changing summers in the mountains as a young teenager. Donations should be directed to the Camp Scholarships for Low Income Students program at Cheley via their “Thousand Summers Program”.
Published on October 30, 2022
I took this picture of Ann in her lovely house some time ago.
The old guard is fading away. RIP!
Hans and Dottie
Oh my what a fine friend you had! You were there for her and did amazing things as well! I hope my Dad met her at some point too!
-Ron
Thank you for sharing. I loved meeting Ann and talking with her. Some years ago now. I liked her immensely.