Skip Hutter
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Ray E. "Skip" Hutter, Jr., age 88, of Mechanicsburg, passed away on Sunday, August 22, 2021. Born October 13, 1932 in Harrisburg, he was the son of the late Ray E. and Helen (Bernheisel) Hutter.
Skip lived an active, rich, and giving life. Best known as a sportswriter for first the Mechanicsburg Daily Local News and later the Harrisburg Patriot-News and Evening News from 1968 through his retirement in 1993, Skip provided extensive and in-depth coverage of a variety of sports. As a result of his many years of top-notch reporting, Skip was inducted in the West Shore Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.
Among the thousands of stories Skip authored, his stories about major league, minor league and local baseball, his favorite of the many sports he covered, were among his best. Skip broke the news in 1986 that minor league baseball was returning to Harrisburg after a hiatus of nearly three decades, and he expertly documented the Harrisburg Senators' Class AA minor league franchise as the beat writer. He also provided coverage of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Baltimore Orioles, which led him to five World Series and several Major League Baseball championship series. His many stories and support of Mechanicsburg sandlot baseball for decades was unparalleled among local baseball coverage. He also supported youth baseball and was honored for his service to the local midget baseball scene in 1988.
However, Skip was much more than a baseball writer. When the Washington Redskins held their preseason camp in Carlisle, Skip was at Dickinson College writing numerous entertaining stories during the team's stay. That paid off with a professional visit to Super Bowl XVIII in 1984 when the Redskins defeated the Oakland Raiders 38-9. But Skip's interest was hardly limited to major league sports. He was a fixture at the perennial Virginia Slims Circuit event at the Hershey Racquet Club, for which in part he was honored with the Central Penn Tennis Association Service Award in 1983.
He covered a range of scholastic sports for The Patriot-News and gained recognition for his outstanding coverage of scholastic wrestling, a beat he eventually shared with fellow Patriot-News staffer and hockey beat writer Steve Summers. He developed the highly popular Big 12 Wrestling team in 1977 to spotlight the Harrisburg area's best wrestlers, a feature that remained popular for many years. Skip received various honors for his state-caliber coverage including induction into the District III Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1984) and recognition among the wrestling officials, the state's wrestling reporters and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association as one of the best and most influential reporters in the state.
Skip also covered Division II athletics, primarily schools in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, leading to the conference's media award for meritorious service in 1991. He also authored stories on lesser-covered sports such as orienteering, white-water rafting, rodeo and rugby.
When called upon, Skip would step out of sports to write news stories, most notably his first-person account of watching the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in real-time, albeit from the other side of the state of Florida. That alone qualifies as a full life, but Skip also lived a life of service to his hometown of Mechanicsburg. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was a volunteer firefighter at the former Rescue Hook and Ladder Fire Company and a volunteer ambulance driver, going on more than 1,000 calls.
He was a member of several civic and fraternal organizations including the American Legion Post 109 for more than 50 years, lifetime membership in the Mechanicsburg Club, the Eureka - Masonic Lodge 302, the National Sojourners Chapter 76, past president of the Mechanicsburg Lions Club, past president of the Mechanicsburg Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Mechanicsburg Jubilee Day Committee, member of the Mechanicsburg Recreation Commission, and was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Mechanicsburg. That is a partial list.
For his outstanding service to his community, Skip, a 1950 graduate of Mechanicsburg High School, was inducted into the Mechanicsburg Area High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame as a distinguished alumnus.
Surviving is his loving wife of 65 years, Patricia (Bahn) Hutter; his daughters, Cheryl Griffith (Ron), Karen Hutter, and Marcia Hutter (Patricia Walter); his two grandsons, Jordan Ray Humes and Patrick Ray Walter-Hutter; and his great-granddaughter on the way, Olivia Ray.
Memorial services will be held at 10:30 AM Friday, August 27 at First United Methodist Church, 135 W. Simpson Street, Mechanicsburg. There will be a visitation from 5:00 to 7:00 PM Thursday, August 26 at Malpezzi Funeral Home, 8 Market Plaza Way, Mechanicsburg, and from 9:30 to 10:30 AM Friday at the church. The wearing of facemasks will be recommended but will not be required.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to either Joseph T. Simpson Public Library, 16 N. Walnut Street, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 or to First United Methodist Church, 135 W. Simpson Street, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.
To sign the online guest book, please visit www.malpezzifuneralhome.com