Hutchins remembered for compassionate care

Dr. Joel Hutchins, who served the Holton community for more than 35 years in more ways than just providing expert medical care, once said the best part of being a doctor was the joy he got from fostering the doctor-patient relationships with the people he served.

“I love being a doctor. I love the people that I see and I think it’s mainly because most of the people I see, I know their grandmothers,” Hutchins told The Holton Recorder on his retirement in 2022. “I’ve always been interested in their history… I kept track of all those kind of things, and I loved seeing people and asking, ‘How’s your kids? Where are they now?’”

Hutchins, best known for his medical work at Holton Community Hospital and Family Practice Associates, died Monday at The Pines in Holton after fighting brain cancer, it was reported. He was 75.

“Today, our hearts are heavy as we mourn the passing of Dr. Joel, a beloved family medicine physician who dedicated 35 years to caring for our community with unwavering compassion and commitment,” said Carrie Lutz, Holton Community Hospital CEO. “From the first cries of a newborn to the final moments of life, he was a steadfast presence, guiding generations with his medical expertise and boundless kindness.”

Dr. Clint Colberg, who was one of Hutchins’ peer colleagues for almost two decades, also voiced his appreciation.

“Dr. Hutchins was a mentor, friend and a role model to me as a physician,” Colberg said. “He was generous and kind to both my family and me. I will miss his sense of humor, compassion for others and all the stories he told.”

Hutchins spent his early years as part of a military family in Germany but came to Jackson County as his high school years were getting started, because the family of his mother, the former Aletha Barrow, was from the Denison area. He attended Denison High School, where one of his classmates was a young lady named Becky Lederer.

“She actually broke up with her boyfriend to go out with me,” he told The Recorder in 2022, noting his first date with Becky was a New Year’s Eve dance in Valley Falls. They dated during their senior year of high school, graduating together in 1967, and through all four years of college at Washburn University before marrying on May 29, 1971.

While in college, Hutchins was in the Air Force ROTC and had plans to join the Air Force full-time while the Vietnam War was still going on. He trained at an Air Force base in Alabama and was stationed in Taiwan during the Vietnam War, with Becky following along.

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