MANY Mt Buller and Mansfield residents were saddened to hear of the recent and unexpected passing of Jennifer Hutchison.
'Jen' as she preferred to be called, was a member of the Mt Buller–Mt Stirling Board of Management up until 2016 and at the time of her resignation was chair of that board.
She contributed much to the development and forward plans of both resorts (Buller and Stirling) during her time on the board.
Jen also owned a property at Piries for some time before returning to Melbourne where she established her publishing company 'Journeys to Words' – concentrating on helping the older generation to fulfil dreams of becoming published writers.
Jen Hutchison died at home peacefully on August 4, 2022 in Melbourne with her family by her side.
She had been diagnosed with Stage–4 cancer at the end of May.
In true dynamic 'Jen style' – two days after her cancer diagnosis, she submitted her Master's thesis 'An Autoethnographic Epistolary Study' on the culture of silence surrounding abuse, and graduated RMIT's Master of Writing & Publishing, with distinction.
At the commencement of her memorial service, Kimber Griffith, a life cycle celebrant described Jen Hutchison as "an absolutely stellar human; a woman with a remarkable talent for living in the moment; an incredible seeker and wanderer a talented author, long–form walker and writer, but more than that a wonderfully kind, sensitive and positive human who was the beloved mother to Judd, Tim and Samantha and to her lost son Raif."
In a letter written just prior to her death she wrote about an honest and accepting approach to cancer – "soon it will all come to a stop, I am at peace with that too, no regrets, and no fear, acceptance – a sense of a well lived life, lessons well learned, mission complete, time to go, this body is tired."
Also described as a 'beautiful writer' Jen – establishing Journeys to Words in 2014 helping many other writers achieve their goals.
As someone who was always writing, be it letters, journals, board papers, grant submissions or taking writing classes, Jen created Journeys to Words as a blog and her anecdotal observations and life lessons soon garnered heartfelt interest and a loyal readership.
As a mature age writer herself, she soon realised that, as an age group, they were overlooked by the traditional publishing industry and needed a platform and representation.
So, naturally, at the age of 67, Jen filled that gap and became a publisher, to bring their writing to the market.
In a moving memorial service, Jen was described as being fearless, radiant, brilliant, thoughtful and kind, she was irrepraceable.
Tributes described Jen as a wonderful person who lived life to the full, generous and did it her way; she championed others as both friend and mentor.
Jen enabled others to reach their limits, helping them to do things they didn't believe they could do.
She had a sense of vision, not just for her own life but for those around her.
Husband, partner and soulmate for 30 years Graham – spoke about his life with Jen, his times when they were apart due to business commitments and their joy in reuniting at the end of each journey.
He spoke of combining two families into one and making their family a 'blended' one.
Graham said "Jen approached this diagnosis of cancer as she did all things – with curiosity, open heartedness, grit and practicality.
"Jen was nothing short of remarkable."
When her son Raif died 10 years ago, she decided to walk the ancient pathways of the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain (800km) with his ashes, journaling along the way, without fail, every foot–throbbing weary night.
After 35 days of trekking, she returned home, and drawing from her journals, wrote 'Motherling', a poignant, brave memoir of that life–saving walk and her growing adjustment to life without Raif.
A sharp editor and writing mentor to so many, Jen ran writers' retreats and masterclass workshops to arm her writers with the techniques publishers expect to see in submission ready manuscripts.
"Her legacy lives on in all of us whose lives she touched, and we learned from her in a myriad of ways," Graham said.