Joan “Sam” Hutton, 88, of Mooresville, N.C., passed away on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. Joan was born in New Haven, Connecticut on August 1, 1936, to the late Joseph Dodge Smith and Dorothy Helena Smith (née Alling).

Although born in New England, she lived in many states east of the Mississippi due to her father’s work and described herself as a “Displaced Yankee.” Before moving to North Carolina in 2014, a majority of her life was spent in South Jersey, where she married and had two daughters. After graduating from Penns Grove Regional High School, she went on to graduate from Goldey Beacom Business College. She also earned a B.A. in Geography from Rowan University (Glassboro State College) in 1986. In 2005, she retired after 20 years as Gloucester County’s Senior Planner in Land Development.

While living in New Jersey, Sam was active as a “Pink Lady” volunteer at Underwood Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, Art Chairman for the Jr. Woman’s Club of Woodbury, team member in the Women’s Invitational Bowling League, Secretary for the Gibbstown Recreational Committee, and Open Space Commissioner for the Pitman Environmental Commission. In North Carolina, she was also a Commissioner for the Mooresville Planning Board and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution – Mary Slocomb Chapter.

As a geographer by nature, you could often find her, her daughter Joanne, and Max, their American Eskimo dog, traveling by car, visiting some of her favorite places in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee.

She loved New Jersey and would usually tell anyone who would listen how much she missed it.

She is survived by her daughters, Stephanie Willson of Silver Spring, Md., and Joanne Pratt Hutton of Mooresville, N.C. She was also “mom” to many of her daughter’s friends, who affectionately called her Momma Hutton. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her, and her memory will forever remain in our hearts.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, at Cavin-Cook Funeral Home Chapel with Chaplain Russell Files officiating.

The family will receive friends prior to the service from 12 to 1 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow the service at 3 p.m. at Oakwood Cemetery in Statesville.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lake Norman Humane Society, Mooresville, N.C.

Cavin-Cook Funeral Home, Mooresville is proudly serving the Hutton family. Condolences may be made to the family at www.cavin-cook.com.