By David Fleet
Special to the Clarkston News

Ask Louise Hutchins the secret to a century of life and her answer is simple: “Keep busy.”
Hutchins, the grandmother of Atlas Township resident and Atlas Real Estate owner Jeff Dawley, celebrated her 100th birthday on Dec. 19 with friends and family.
Hutchins was born the second-youngest child of Besse and Andrew French of Bangor, Wisc., in 1922.
“My parents were farmers,” said Hutchins. “My mother’s family came from Norway. When they got off the boat in New York City, they (traveled west and) went up the Mississippi River, landing in LaCrosse which is on the (Mississippi) River not far from Bangor. In 1926, my parents thought the grass was greener in Michigan so we moved to Evart (Michigan) when I was four years old.”
Evart is located in rural Osceola County, about 26 miles west of Clare.
Since the family lived on a farm, they were not impacted by the Great Depression in 1929, she added.
“My parents fed us and we had clothes,” she said. “We did not hurt for food and the income from our milk cows purchased our clothes or other items. We did not have electricity either, so the only radio required batteries. A windmill brought in the water to the house, we had oil lamps and an outhouse. None of us knew anything different growing up, I picked berries, and had a pickle patch for money, I could get a hair perm for $1.”
In 1928, Louise attended a one-room country school near Evart.
“We walked about a mile each way to school every day,” she said. “One teacher with eight grades all together. After a few years Evart consolidated and we could then ride the bus to high school. When the buses started picking up students a lot more (students) attended school, since they now had transportation.”
“All the high school teachers wore suits where I attended,” she added. “I graduated in 1941, and that was a special day. Everyone came to town to celebrate. Then World War II started and soon after I learned to drive a car. That same year electricity came to our home.”
After graduation, Louise moved to Pontiac and lived with her brother Joe, where she attended a business institute.
While attending classes and working at a local restaurant, she met Dayton Hutchins, a Lapeer native who was working for General Motors.
“We married in 1942 and that same year, he was drafted in World War II,” she said.
Dayton served in Europe for about three years. During his stint, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
While overseas, Louise had their first child, Prudence.
“He wrote home to me every day,” she said. “When the war started, it took a month to get a letter from Europe, (but) by the end of the war, they came daily.”
Dayton came home on furlough and met Prudence when she was five months old. He was discharged from the Army in 1945.
The couple moved to Pontiac and then Clarkston in 1950. Their son Craig was born in 1951.
Dayton died in 1996 after 54 years of marriage. Both Dayton and Louise worked for General Motors, and she retired at 59 years old.
Hutchins reflected on 100 years saying, “it’s all about staying busy.”
“I’m not afraid of work,” she said. “Dayton and I did not hire people to work (on projects). We did it ourselves.”
Hutchins has remained an active member of the local Methodist churches in Goodrich, Clarkston and Ortonville.
“We’ve done a lot of good projects together as a church and had great fellowship, all my friends I met through the church, they are wonderful people.” she said. “My recommendation is to stay involved with people, I eat just about anything except I don’t care for alcohol.
“Keep on moving and keep in touch with friends and family.”
The couple has four grandchildren: Katie, Matt, Jeff, and Chris.