Meta Maxwell Hutchings

Meta Maxwell Hutchings peacefully passed away on Monday, June 15th. Meta was born on July 1st, 1933, in Terre Haute, Indiana, to Glen and Wanda Maxwell. The youngest of three sisters, Millicent and Joyce, Meta spent her youth riding horses and camping in the wilderness of Colorado.
  As idyllic as her childhood seemed, life was not always easy. Meta lost her mother at the age of four, and her father at the age of thirteen. The year after her father’s death, she boarded a train and left Indiana for New Haven, Connecticut, where she was to live under the care of aunt and uncle, Helen and Charles Wesson.
   Later, while in college, Meta was throwing a party at her apartment when she heard a knock on her door. In each retelling of the story, Meta gleefully emphasized that the sight of the figure standing in her doorway, a tall and handsome young man named Frank Hutchings, quite literally took her breath away. Meta and Frank soon wed and moved to Japan while Frank continued to serve as a navigator in the Air Force. Upon return, they resided in Western, Massachusetts before returning to Frank’s hometown of Chatham in the early sixties. They built their home on a plot of land overlooking Ryder’s Cove. Meta and Frank raised three children, Keith, Kirk, and Joyce, and after her sister Millicent passed, they added Meredith, Chuck, and Stuart, all of whom they raised as their own.
  A childhood truncated by loss guided Meta toward pursuing a master’s degree in early education. She would go on to open Cabbages and Kings, a children’s book and toy store, with her dear friend Bess Moye in 1985.
  Meta also credited her upbringing for her abiding devotion to social justice, as she remained active in her community throughout her life. She spearheaded the Drop-In Center, which later gave rise to Monomoy Community Services, a not-for-profit program that provides support for families in need.
Meta loved so much, with so much fervor. She loved welcoming all, both friends and family, strangers and strays, into their home. She loved spending entire days with her feet dug into the sands of Outer Beach, listening to the waves lap at the shores. She loved to travel alongside her husband, and she loved to recount the stories of their adventures upon return. She loved watching her Kousa dogwood, which she purchased for ten dollars at the local A&P and planted outside her kitchen window, grow with the years. She loved watching the Red Sox, oftentimes at decibel levels that can only be described as “reckless.” She loved staying up late, playing cards. She loved sweets (perhaps a little too much). She loved her family, and her family loved her.
  Meta will be remembered for her unwavering positivity, for her generosity of spirit, for her resolute devotion to others, for her wry sense of humor, and for her largesse of love. For these reasons, and so much more, she will be missed.
  Meta leaves behind three children, Keith (Carol), Kirk (Kim), and Joyce; nine grandchildren, Rebecca, Rachel, Natalie; Hope, Sam, Anne, and Liddy; Keb and Jude; as well as one great-granddaughter, Dolly, and one great-grandson on the way.
  A service will be held in Meta’s memory on July 9th at 3:00 pm at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans, Massachusetts.
Please visit www.smithmason.com for online condolences.