memorial

Elbert Bruce Hutson

Oct. 28, 1951 - May 31, 2025

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Elbert Bruce Hutson, beloved spouse, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, artist, and friend to many died on May 31, 2025 in Seattle, WA from complications of sudden onset Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Bruce was born on October 28, 1951 to Willard and Peggy (Bowling) Hutson, the youngest of their two sons. He was proud to be a military “brat” as their family lived in many places throughout the United States and Europe. Bruce graduated from Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern Germany and from the University of Kentucky. Although he held a business degree, Bruce was an artist, capturing the essence of each subject in his photographs and videos. He worked as a fashion photographer in Miami and as Chief Photographer for WAAY-TV in Huntsville, AL. After leaving the newsroom he started his own business and shared his photography and videography talents with a wide variety of clients in and around Seattle, after relocating to the PNW in the mid-eighties. His work was acknowledged for its excellence with numerous awards and wide recognition. Bruce loved a good adventure! He summited Mt. Rainier and swam with the manatees. He traveled the world in search of the perfect shot and the story that went with it. From young Buddhist monks in India to the Catacombs of Paris and countless places in between, Bruce could find and document each moment through the wisdom and curiosity that lived within him and found its way into each image. The adventure continued when Bruce re-connected with a friend and former colleague in 2005; he and Julie married in 2007. Bruce became her greatest champion, her encourager, her travel guide and the one on whom she could always depend. In Julie, he also became a father to her three children: Greg, Robby, and Taylor. He adopted Taylor in 2016. For all three of them, Bruce was a steady, constant presence in their world. He reveled in this role and they loved him as he loved them. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 Bruce retired. He continued to shoot photos and videos, but now it was for the sheer pleasure of the art. He and Julie moved to Columbus, OH from 2020-2023 where together, they learned what it meant to support one another in new roles. With the birth of their first grandchild in 2023 Bruce and Julie prioritized being present and active grandparents and returned to the PNW, settling in Olympia. Family First was his refrain. Although he’d not spent much time around infants prior to becoming “Opa”, he was a pro….reading and singing and changing diapers and taking endless photos of his new favorite subjects. Repeatedly he marveled that he could never have dreamed how rich life with children and grandchildren could be. It is those children and grandchildren and Julie and his family and friends and colleagues who will miss his enthusiastic and joyful presence in the world. But it is that joy that we carry with us into what is still to come, grateful beyond measure that we got to know and love him and do life together. Bruce is survived by his spouse, Julie Hutson, his children Taylor Rendes, Robby and Haley Martin, and Greg Martin; his grandchildren Kaia and Finnley; his brother and his spouse Rick and Esther Hutson; his nephews and their spouses: Matthew and Yadhyra Hutson, Jeremy and Katie Hutson, and Kirk and Nice Hutson and many great nieces and nephews. He is also survived by numerous cousins and by Bob McNeill. He was preceded in death by his parents, Willard and Peggy Hutson. In keeping with his values and commitment to care for Creation, Bruce has chosen soil transformation through Earth Care. His remains, composted in carbon neutral fashion, will help replenish the land and forests in his beloved Pacific Northwest. Memorial Gifts may be made to King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, https://www.kcsarc.org/en/ A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, June 21st, at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church, 13047 Greenwood Avenue N., Seattle, WA. Bruce was one of those rare people who saw the sacred across faith traditions. The welcome at his service will be wide, reflecting and making space for everyone at the table, which is how he understood the holy. A blood drive and photo exhibit in his memory will be held at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Olympia in late August. Two phrases that guided his life are worth repeating in remembering it: Everything’s going to be alright and geradeaus, which in German means “always moving forward”.

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Leave the earth with beauty

Earth specializes in soil transformation, an environmentally-friendly alternative to burial and cremation. Over a 45-day process, we gently transform a body into nutrient-rich soil. We then send this soil to our local conservation land where it’s used for restoration projects such as reforestation and nourishing challenged ecosystems.

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