Dwight L. Hutton was the life of the party. He loved Jimmy Buffett, grilling and classic cars. So it’s fitting that a car cruise would be held in his honor.
“Dwight was from Freeport, and he grew up there. He was very proud of being from the Alle-Kiski Valley,” said Vito Capaccio, producer of Carcruises.com.
Dwight Hutton, 63, who lived most recently in Monroeville, was an amateur DJ, Mustang car enthusiast and former activity director for the Greater Pittsburgh Mustang Club. He died from glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, on Aug. 22, 2019.
The car cruise will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer. Attendees are encouraged to wear Hawaiian shirts, a Jimmy Buffett staple. The event is not a fundraiser, Capaccio said. It is free to attend.
“He came (to many car cruises), a lot of the people knew him. He DJ’d the cruises,” Capaccio said of Dwight Hutton. “We just thought it was a nice remembrance.”
Dwight Hutton was the proud owner of three classic cars: a 2001 yellow Mustang, a 1985 ASC McLaren Capri and a 1990 ASC McLaren Mustang. The ‘90 McLaren — his pride and joy — was even showcased in the Mustang Owner’s Museum in Concord, N.C., for a short time.
“He was really excited about having it in there,” his wife, Mary Hutton, said.
The Huttons sold the ’85 McLaren Capri, but still have the ‘90 and the ‘01 cars. Mary Hutton plans to bring the ‘01 to the car cruise.
“I drive the ’01 occasionally,” she said.
Dwight Hutton was a graduate of Lenape Technical School, Penn State New Kensington and Point Park University. He became a Licensed Professional Engineer and worked for several companies, including Westinghouse Electric, before starting his own business, Hutton Engineering Corp.
“He was brilliant,” Mary Hutton said. “He could fix anything. I never had to call a repair person.”
Mary Hutton said her husband also served as one of Armstrong County’s first EMTs.
“He did that for a while until it got to him, all the horrors of it,” she said.
A fan of Jimmy Buffett for over 25 years, Dwight Hutton enjoyed throwing parties and tailgating at Jimmy Buffett concerts.
“He loved the ocean and being down island, anything tropical,” his wife said. “He went to about 25 Jimmy Buffet concerts in a row.”
Mary Hutton recalled a party the family threw for Dwight Hutton shortly before his death. She said he got on her case for not inviting enough people.
“He wanted to have 100 people. Somebody else nicknamed him ‘the Mayor of our street,’” Mary Hutton said. “He was outgoing. There wasn’t anyone that was a stranger to Dwight. He would talk to anybody.”
