Bishop Hutchens Of Connecticut Dies
Episcopal News Service. August 9, 1979 [79252]
Hartford, Conn. -- The Bishop Emeritus of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, the Rt. Rev. J. Warren Hutchens, died at his home in Lichfield, Conn., August 4 following a lengthy illness. He was 69 years old.
Consecrated suffragan bishop in 1961, he served under Bishops Walter Gray and John Esquirol before his election as Diocesan Bishop in 1971. He retired in 1977, and was succeeded by the present Bishop of Connecticut, the Rt. Rev. Morgan Porteus. At the time of his retirement, the diocese established the J. Warren Hutchens Clergy Children Scholarship Fund. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers donations be sent to the diocese for this fund. Bishop Hutchens was designated Bishop Emeritus by the 1978 convention of' the Diocese of Connecticut.
A memorial service for Bishop Hutchens was held on Aug. 9, at Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford.
Bishop Hutchens was born in Elnora, Ind. in 1910. He received both B.A. and M.A. degrees from Nolinwestern University before entering General Theological Seminary, New York City, from Which he earned his S. T. B. in 1937. He was awarded honorary doctorates by General, Trinity College in Hartford, and Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven in 1961, and by Evansville College in 1965.
After serving as curate of St. Luke's Cathedral, Evanston, Ill., for two years, in 1939 he became rector of St. John's Church, Bridgeport, where he served until his election as suffragan bishop in 1961.
During his episcopate, Bishop Hutchens directed a reorganization of diocesan structure designed to foster greater local participation by lay people and to stimulate cooperation between neighboring congregations. He also had a keen interest in historical research, and encouraged the preparation and writing of parish histories.
Bishop Hutchens is survived by his wife, Carolyn Hilton; their two daughters, Mrs. Margaret Roper and Mrs. Mary Buell, both of California; a brother, Ezra L. Hutchens, Jr., Palm Beach, Fla., and a sister, Mrs. Ruth Bopp, Terre Haute, Ind.; and four grandchildren.