Donald Lane Hutchison

Donald Lane Hutchison, 51 years old, of the Belknap area, died suddenly at 1:30 P. M., Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at Vienna, Illinois. Donald was born March 2, 1974 at Massac Memorial Hospital, Metropolis. He grew up in the Forman Community, Johnson County, went to grade school at Cypress, and graduated from high school at Vienna in 1992. While still in high school, Donald worked on our neighbor’s, Donnie and Pat Vaughn's, dairy farm milking cows in evenings and on weekends. It's there that he learned a lot about hard work, responsibility, and punctuality. It's there that he also helped custom saw lumber with Donnie's sawmill, and again he learned how to deal with people and always strive to do a good job. Then in the mid-90's, Donald went to work on a tug boat in the Ohio River at Cairo for American Commercial Barge Lines. Here he began as a deckhand and, in 1999, he got his pilot's license. At that time, he was the youngest pilot there. From then until his death, he was pilot and captain of boats for ACBL. While working on the river, Donald still found time to stay busy on other projects, usually work to help others. He was in the cattle business for awhile and kept a few cows. He baled hay for himself and others. He custom sawed logs with his band sawmill on his days off and he was always busy doing repair jobs and carpentry work for all of his family members and neighbors. He loved to hunt and fish, from the time he was big enough to hold a fishing pole until his death. Recently, he has been busy helping his son, Zane, build a home on Donald's grandparents’ home place near Belknap. Donald had a daughter, Hope, a son, Zane, and a stepson, Will. He and our neighbor, Pat and Beverly Greer's daughter, Stephanie, were engaged to be married, the wedding to be Saturday, three days after his death. They had been attending the Harvest Church at Anna, and Donald had recently reaffirmed and expressed his faith in Christ and in the Lord's will for his life. Donald lost his mother, Sharon Hutchison, in November, 2024. He is survived by his wife to be, Stephanie Greer, and her two children, Jackson and Chrislynn; his dad, Max Hutchison; two sisters, Beth Jackson (Michael); Rachel Womack (Jason); a daughter, Hope (Malik) and children, Colton and Rylan; a son, Zane (Taylor); a stepson, Will (Kara) and daughter, Serenity; Robert Dale Kean (a cousin that worked with him so much the last few years) and several other cousins, nieces, and good friends. It's going to be mighty hard for all of us that depended on him so much. I don't know how we will get by without his help. It's a comfort to know that he and Stephanie had recently assured their pastor and some of us that they were trusting in the Lord. They had planned and were so looking forward to their wedding. He was always on call whenever he was needed, and I doubt that anyone that knew him will ever forget how much he always tried to be fair with everyone and always do what was right. He will be missed. Funeral services will be conducted Sunday afternoon, June 29, 2025, at 2 P.M. at Bailey Funeral Home in Vienna. Pastor Matt Crain will officiate. Burial will be in the Belknap Masonic Cemetery. Visitation will be held Saturday, June 28, 2025, from 4 P.M. until 8 P.M. at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105-1905 or online at www.stjude.org To share a memory of Donald or to leave an online message of condolence for his family, please visit www.baileyfh.com Honored to serve as pallbearers are: Rachel Womack, Jason Womack, Casey Douglas, Dale Kean, Will Cook, Zane Hutchison, Jay Ramsey, and Jamie Short.

Donald Lane Hutchison

March 2, 1974 - June 25, 2025