Alfred Thomas Hutchins

Notes:

After graduating from Flint (Mich.) Central High School in 1930, Al went West looking for work. In a biography he prepared for his family he writes he "left Flint on a car-haul away loaded with Buicks for Kansas City. Hitching my way west, I came to Lawton, Oklahoma which at that time was about 9000 people." His wife MayBelle wrote that he lived with an Aunt and Uncle and worked at Montgomery Wards. The position he was given was reserved for students, so he enrolled in Cameron State Agricultural College the next day. He received an Associate in Science degree from Cameron in May, 1932.

He was a longtime employee of Dupont, working on and off depending on the economy, from 1927 through 1949. He later worked for Acme Paint, Williams Gun Shop, Knoblock's Hardware, and as a custodian at Mott Community College. After he retired in 1976, Al and MayBelle travelled, and spent each winter at The Tip O' Texas RV Resort in Pharr, Texas, returning home to Michigan each summer.

Alfred married MayBelle Mildred Beznoska on 5 Aug 1933 in La Porte County, Indiana. MayBelle (daughter of Louis Beznoska and Mildred Schere) was born on 25 Apr 1914 in Junction City, Comanche County, Oklahoma; died on 2 Apr 2007 in Houghton Lake, Roscommon County, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
In the biography she prepared for her children and grandchildren, MayBelle writes that she and Al met when he was living with an Aunt and Uncle in Lawton. In 1932, she went on a blind date with Al's roomate, and her friend with Al. Before the evening was over, they "switched" dates, and continued to date over the next three months until his college graduation, when he returned to Flint, Michigan. They corresponded for the next 18 months, until Al found a job and asked her to come to Michigan. Her parents, who approved of him, sold a cow and bought her a bus ticket. The following weekend the young couple drove to Indiana and eloped in a ceremony officiated by Rev. Frohm, taking the train into Chicago the next day for the 1933 World's Fair. In Al's biography he called it a "fast wild ride and believe it or not we did not see the fair." When they returned to Flint, they were greeted with a Shiveree, and the newleyweds ended up at the corner beer garden treating friends to drinks until their money was exhausted. Two months after their weddding, Al was laid off. They moved in with his parents, where the lived for the next 12 years.

1. Living
2. Living