James Manson Hutchison, age 91 of Novice, Texas, died in Keller, Texas, Saturday, March 24, 2018. A graveside service will be held at 11:00 AM, Tuesday, March 27, 2018, in the open air chapel at Evergreen Cemetery with Rev. David Darrow officiating. Fry & Gibbs Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.
He was born July 5, 1926, in Brownwood, Texas to the late Manson and Mabel Goree Hutchison. He attended Paris High School graduating in 1943. James served in the United States Navy during World War II as a submariner on the USS Gunnel. At the end of the war, he returned to Texas A&M University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and animal husbandry in 1949. September 3, 1950, he and Betty Jean Johnson were married. On March 29, 1968, he married Betty Ruth Antoine Holmes.
James knew early he wanted to be a rancher, so started work at the 6666 Ranch in Guthrie, Texas to gain hands on experience after graduating from A&M. In 1950, he purchased land north of Paris in the small community of Novice, and there he started his family and ranch. He also worked for the US government as a customs inspector for the Sesame Seed Plant in Paris, retiring from there in 1991.
James is preceded in death by his wife, Betty Antoine Hutchison and step-son Keith Holmes of Powderly.
James is survived by his three children, Ray Hutchison and wife, Kathy of Novice, Jan West and husband, Garrick of Fort Worth, and Jerri Brock and husband, Jewel of Dandridge, Tennessee. He is further survived by his four grandchildren, Christopher, Mark (Kailyn), Lauren Attanasio Paluska (Mike), and Clay and wife, Kim Hutchison; his three great-grandchildren, Caleb, Kaitlyn, and Ashlyn Hutchison; and his step-daughter, Camille Holmes and husband Howard Hall of Bellville, Texas.