John James Hutson OBITUARY
John James Hutson, 70, of Santa Cruz, CA, passed away on September 3, 2024, at his home, surrounded by his family.
John was born December 23, 1953, in San Jose, CA to Veronica Bernadette Hutson and Dr. Robert W. Hutson, DDS. The son of a nurse and the first San Jose periodontal dentist, who invented the Oral-B Toothbrush, John was the youngest of three siblings. He grew up in the Willow Glen neighborhood and graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory, where he excelled on the water polo and swim teams. During his high school years, the allure of the beach grew strong enough that John would hitchhike over Highway 17 to surf and skateboard. John would follow his heart and move to Santa Cruz in 1973 to swim and play water polo for Cabrillo College. It was here in Santa Cruz, while lifeguarding on the beach for the city, that John met Jenny, who would become his wife and companion of 50 years. Participating in an around-the-wharf swim, John finished as the top city resident and would receive an award from the Mayor, his future father-in-law, Bert Muhly. At Cabrillo, John's record setting swimming achievements earned him a scholarship to compete for the University of Hawaii. In the islands, the draw of surfing the North Shore would put him on track for a life of board sports and excitement.
John began skateboarding as a kid in San Jose in the summer of 1964. 10 years later, with the development of the urethane wheel, John saw an opportunity to promote skateboarding by riding from San Francisco to Santa Cruz on Road Rider wheels, with the local news trailing behind. He would turn pro in the fall of 1975, and John's primary sponsors were Santa Cruz Skateboards, Independent Trucks, and Road Rider Wheels. Widely known as the top downhill racer of the 1970s, John won 11 out of 14 races in 1978. At Signal Hill in Long Beach, John set the skateboarding stand-up speed record of 53.45 mph, which was recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records. John was famous for the Hut Tuck, a stance he employed to achieve maximum velocity during downhill runs. He was featured on several national TV shows including ABC's Wide World of Sports, That's Incredible, and Unbelievable Sports, as well as multiple skateboard magazine covers, including Action Now, Skateboarder, and Thrasher. Around 2014, after taking a bad slam that resulted in six fractured ribs and one punctured lung, John permanently relegated his skateboard to the laundry room closet. In 2021, John was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.
While skateboarding occupied a large portion of the Book of John, he was also a dedicated and dearly loved family man. As he began to burn through his skateboarding prize money in pursuit of open wheel auto racing (another of John's speed-based hobbies), his wise and wonderful wife persuaded him to use a portion of his skateboarding prize money to fund the downpayment on what would become their family home in Santa Cruz. There the family was blessed to grow with the addition of three children: Joanne, Joey, and Jeff. The arrival of the children ushered in a more responsible, hardworking John who took several jobs in the trades, including fiber glassing sailboards for SeaTrend (SurfTech), surfboard ding repair, drywall, carpentry, and ultimately becoming a construction superintendent. During his building career, John managed commercial and residential developments throughout the Bay Area. John's keen construction insight and woodworking skills were put to work on many personal endeavors, designing and building the family's home in Santa Cruz, creating many fine custom woodworks, and building the family vacation home in Hood River, OR. John's proclivity to build and create inspired his family and the next generation of Hutsons. The family learned to love construction through the many remodels of the family home, in which they were actively invited, nay required, to help in all stages of construction.
His hobbies included skateboarding, surfing, windsurfing, bodyboarding, snowboarding, salmon fishing, fly fishing, listening to his favorite band Devo, following Formula 1 racing, the Giants and 49ers, Fleet Week, Airshow Fly-ins, coaching kids sport teams, building all manner of science projects, hobby rockets, model airplanes and gliders, back-yard halfpipes, boat building, and camping. Each of these hobbies were shared fully and completely with his family. John loved fishing with all his being; steelheading in the local streams, surfcasting for perch, exploring rivers and canyons in the Sierra's with Jenny, and of course, the lifelong pursuit of the salmon. Once, he was reported to the fire department as a person in distress while salmon fishing off his sailboard far offshore of Natural Bridges. The early days of hunting salmon were done on his 14 ft. aluminum boat, the "Lil' Dude," that had been custom reinforced with wood bulkheads, stringers, and the occasional piece of bubblegum and duct tape, to slow the leaks and make it "seaworthy." The boat was frequently overloaded with kids and family, had no radios or instruments, and used the compass, waves and buoys for navigation. He was mighty proud that that little boat caught just as many salmon as the big ones. His love of fly fishing spawned so many wonderful and exciting adventures. He was a patient husband, father, and teacher, tying flies and endless new leaders for his family. John signed the family up for snowboard lessons all the way back in '91- when snowboards weren't yet allowed at many resorts. He was known to disappear on family snow trips, only to be seen bombing past kids, family and the ski patrol on his hard boot slalom racing boards. In line with his love of racing, while in their 40's, he and Jenny would pursue competitive slalom snowboard racing (while leaving the kids home alone to become trustworthy teenagers).
John's personality and humor shined brightly during the holidays; he did a hilarious Ed Sullivan impersonation each Christmas Eve as host of the family talent show. His pre-Christmas birthday on Dec. 23rd became known as "Johnnza," kicking off several days of holiday festivities. Recognizing the importance of family, Waffle Sunday's became his weekly tradition, an open invitation to his children, grandchildren, their dogs, and friends. John cherished these last few years with his growing family always nearby.
John is survived by his wife of 48 years, Jennifer, his sister Mary Anne Hutson, his daughter Joanne (Zach), his sons Joseph (Mary) and Jeffrey (Andrea), 9 grandchildren Kyla, Reece, Myles, Adam, Noah, Natalie, Olivia, Rosie, Joseph Murray, and many nieces, nephews, and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents Robert and Veronica, and his brother William. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Hospice of Santa Cruz, Catholic Charities of Santa Cruz, and the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project. A celebration of life will be held from 4:00-7:00 on Tuesday October 22, 2024 at Seymour Center (100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz) overlooking the Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz.
