Linda Hutula

Linda Jean Hutula, age 72 of Watton, MI, passed away on Saturday, March 14, 2026, at UP Health System - Marquette, after a long battle with chronic illness.

She was born October 21, 1953, in L'Anse, MI, to Roland Sr. and Kathleen (Denomme) Huhtala. Linda graduated from L'Anse High School in 1971 and attended Michigan Technological University. She married Dale Hutula in L'Anse on August 11, 1973, and they built a home in Watton, in 1977 and raised two children.

In her younger years, Linda worked at the Hilltop Restaurant and Leemon's Department Store in L'Anse. For more than 20 years, she worked at Wood Development Corporation in Sidnaw, MI. She also served as a member of the Covington Township School Board and the L'Anse Area Schools Board of Education when her children were in school.

Linda was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Covington, MI, where she served as a Sunday School teacher and Youth Group leader for many years. She led numerous trips involving canoeing, camping, whitewater rafting, swimming, jet skis, hiking, water parks, volleyball, and bowling.

Her favorite place was her kitchen (which could never be big enough) and Linda enjoyed cooking and baking for her family. She was especially talented at making cakes and pies-even winning a local pie contest in 2014. Linda also liked to spend time sewing, in her garden tending vegetables and raspberries, out on the Baraga Plains picking wild blueberries, and playing Words with Friends against her daughter.

Linda was an avid sports fan with her favorite teams being the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Tigers, but truly, if any sport was on, she was likely watching.

She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Dale, son Bradley, and daughter Elizabeth (Betsy), all of Watton, sister Barbara (Roger) Jahfetson of Baraga, brother Roland Huhtala, Jr. of L'Anse, sisters-in-laws Linnea Nopola and Carole (Marvin) Rajala of Watton, Kristine (Donald) Duhame of Ishpeming, and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Linda was preceded in death by her parents, sister and brother-in-law Mary and Roger St. Andre, parents-in-law, William and Sadie Hutula, and brother-in-law Gerald Nopola.

The funeral service will be Saturday, March 21 at 11:30 a.m. at Jacobson Funeral Home with Rev. Howard Neider officiating. Visitation will be on Friday, March 20 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. and from 10:00-11:30 a.m. on March 21. A potluck luncheon will follow the service at the funeral home. Burial will take place in the spring in the Covington Cemetery. The Jacobson Funeral Home in L'Anse is assisting the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Linda's name to the Mariucci Family Beacon House in Marquette, to Trinity Lutheran Church in Covington, to the Copper Country Humane Society in Houghton, or to a charity dear to you.