TULSA - Services have been scheduled for the TPS Hoover Elementary school teacher who died of complications from the flu this week.
Kristin Hutcherson died Tuesday after staying home sick from school for a couple of days. The flu outbreak has resulted in 23 deaths statewide.
According to her obituary, Hutcherson's viewing is set for 10 a.m. through 8 p.m. Friday at Ninde Brookside Funeral Home and the funeral is schduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Southminster Presbyterian Church. She will be laid to rest privately at Memorial Park Cemetery.
Hutcherson, 42, was a physical education teacher and initiated a popular running club. She was honored as Teacher of the Year at Hoover and was selected for an international teacher program that allowed her to travel to China with students to share teaching experiences.
She was a beloved member of the Hoover Elementary family. Her colleagues said she had a true passion for teaching kids and they'll forever remember her smiles in the gymnasium.
Each step is a new memory, reliving moments of an adored teacher they'll never see again.
"She was really fun," Hoover 5th grade student Lainey Grammer said. "Everybody absolutely just kind of loved her. Everyone was crying and they needed Kleenexes and they were hugging Mr. Smith, the teacher who told us at the time."
The 11-year-old Grammer says Mrs. Hutcherson wore a smile on her sleeve. The fifth grader keeps her yearbook close, knowing she can always flip to a picture of the popular gym teacher.
"She is right there," she said. "You can't miss her."
Now 9th grade Union student, Annessa Hubbard, says Mrs. Hutcherson wasn't just a teacher, but a friend.
"In third grade, I started going to running club with her and started telling her everything, especially when boys would bully me or anything like that," she said.
Hubbard went to China with the beloved teacher in 2014 as part of a foreign exchange student program.
"She always made a joke about everything even when we climbed the Great Wall of China," she said.
Hutcherson didn't have a grade; she taught every child.
"She was there for you no matter what," Hubbard said.
So they'll be there for each other because together, they are Hoover.
Hutcherson's family wrote this statement to Two Works for You:
"While we are devastated and still trying to accept this tragedy, we are so grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of love and support to our family from this community.
Kristin shared a tremendous amount of love with those who had the good fortune to know her. She was a loving and dedicated Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister and Aunt, and loyal to her family and friends.
She had many gifts, working tirelessly for her school and for all of her students. Teaching wasn't just her career, it was her purpose, and she was exceptional at it. Kristin is dearly loved and missed by all of us and we will forever remember her giving spirit."
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