Lenard Ray Hutton

Lenard R. Hutton July 31, 1929 ~ April 19, 2015 Lenard R. Hutton passed away on April 19, 2015 at the age of 85 years. He died of complications of congestive heart failure in Lake Forest, California. Prior to is passing, he had been a resident of Corona, California for nearly 56 years. Len was born on July 31, 1929 in Enid, Oklahoma. He grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas where he completed his elementary, junior high and high school education, and eventually graduated from Hutchinson Junior College. Len married his high school sweetheart, Carol Jean Bredfeldt, in 1950 and they moved to Manhattan, Kansas where he attended Kansas State University. One of his proudest accomplishments was graduating from the K State Engineering School with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1953. Shortly thereafter, Len enlisted in the United States Navy and graduated from Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. He began his career at the Naval Air Weapons Development Center at China Lake in Ridgecrest, California. He later transferred to the Naval Surface Warfare Assessment Center at Corona after finishing a tour of active duty in the Naval Reserves. His work involved documenting guided missile weapon systems data for analysis and evaluation. He retired in September of 1984. Len and Carol enjoyed camping in their RV, going fishing a riding off-road motorcycles. They were also fortunate to go on many trips and cruises to Hawaii, Alaska and the Rhine and Danube in Western Europe. They were involved for 55 years with Starlighters, a social group organized through the Methodist Church in Corona. Len had two hobbies during retirement, one involved working with others in the Mutual UFO Network in Orange County and the other was studying trends in stock market investing. These two topics came up often with anyone he knew or had even just met. He did nearly all of the maintenance on his cars and became known for his resulting favorite expression of, “Have you checked your oil lately?” Len is survived by Carol, his wife of 65 years, daughter Kristen Martin, son in law, Billy Martin, granddaughters, Heather (Andrew) Nolan, Hailey (Ryan) Saldutti, Hannah Holmes and Krys Martin, great-grandsons, Aiden and Asher Nolan, all residing in south orange county, as well as several nieces and nephews living throughout the midwest. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Lee and sister, Jean, all of whom are interred in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arizona. Len will be buried in a private graveside service at Riverside National Cemetery with full military honors. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Corona United Methodist Church. Service Riverside National Cemetery Staging Area #4 Monday 5/4, 10:00 am