Marion E. "Bud" Dutcher, aged 101, died at his home on March 28, 2017. A graveside gathering for Bud will be at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, at Riverside Cemetery in Painesville, Ohio.

Bud was born in Galeton, PA, on June 30, 1915. In the early 1920s, his family moved to Painesville, Ohio, where he resided for the rest of his life. Shortly after his graduation from Harvey High School, Bud joined the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and worked in the Peninsula, Ohio, camp. There he helped to build numerous structures, including some that are still used in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Bud joined the United States Marine Corps on January 29, 1942, and was deployed to the Pacific Theater of World War II, where he served in the Solomon Islands, New Zealand, and Australia. He was a corporal in the Weapons Company, Fifth Regiment, First Marine Division, which saw action in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Bud contracted malaria while in the South Pacific and later remarked that this saved his life. He was sent back to the U.S. and became a firefighter at a Marine base until the end of the war.

On his discharge, Bud returned to Painesville and, on March 10, 1947, married his childhood sweetheart, Marjorie E. "Marge" Minner. A few years after their marriage, they built the home that he lived in until his death.

Bud worked at a variety of jobs over the years. He unloaded fifty-ton coal cars by hand. He installed furnaces and did sheet metal work. He planted trees at Riverside Cemetery and plowed snow for the City of Painesville. He became a Certified Steam Engineer and worked at the Painesville Power Plant and the Diamond in Fairport Harbor.

On his retirement from the Diamond, Bud and Marge enjoyed caring for their home and yard, as well as travelling to Fort Myers, Florida, the Gulf Coast of Texas, and along Route 66 to California. Despite Marge's good cooking, which Bud often praised, he never seemed to gain an ounce. They shared their home with a number of dogs, including Pepe Pom Pom and Spencer.

Following Marge's death in 2003, Bud continued to maintain their house and yard. He loved walking in the woods; he often checked on the eagles' nest above Grand River behind his house. He loved shelling on the beach in Florida. He loved opera and Big Band music. He loved to play pinochle and other card games. Even after reaching his centennial, he regularly beat people a third of his age at cards, and he always knew the rules.

Bud was witness to many changes in his long lifetime. He once made a list of some of them, which included such diverse things as computers replacing typewriters, shopping with a grocery cart, crossing the ocean in a jet plane rather than on a passenger ship, and everybody owning a telephone. He lived in interesting times, and he never lost interest.

Bud is survived by numerous family, friends, and neighbors. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Marge; his parents, Arthur J. and Lila (Gaghagan) Dutcher; his sister, Beatrice (Dutcher) Bentley; and his brothers Richard James Hester, Robert Junior Hester, and Jack Hester.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Bud's memory may be made to the Lake County Humane Society or Hospice of the Western Reserve.