Beverly Hutzell

Beverly Adele (Edmison) Hutzell passed away after a short illness in Memphis, Tennessee on January 6, 2026, with her sister, Sheryl, by her side. 

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, April 25, 2026, at McKown Funeral Home. Visitation is at 9:00 a.m. and services will follow at 10:00 a.m. Interment will be in Jackson Cemetery, Duncan, NE.

Bev was born on November 25, 1941, in rural Platte County, Nebraska. She attended country school in rural Platte County and high school In Silver Creek, Nebraska, graduating in 1959. She then briefly moved to the Washington, D.C. area until she reached the required age to become a flight attendant with Braniff International Airways. At Braniff, she modeled the revolutionary Pucci uniforms in the 1960's and worked on charter flights for First Lady "Lady Bird" Johnson, which led to her attending two inaugural balls for President Johnson in 1965. After Braniff declared bankruptcy in 1982, she was hired by Piedmont Airlines and worked for them until 1989 when they merged with US Airways. She retired in 2005 with 44 years of service in the airline industry. Bev lived in Dallas, Texas until 1979 when she moved to Memphis.

Bev enjoyed boating, golf (she shot a coveted hole-in-one) and her continued travel adventures both domestically and internationally including two cruises with Sheryl to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia in 2023 and to Italy in 2024. She made frequent visits to Nebraska to visit family and friends. She also volunteered at a local animal shelter where she helped care for and socialize many cats including as a foster parent, at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital holding needy babies and at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Memphis as an usher where she saw many Broadway and other shows. She was an active member of Hope Presbyterian Church in Cordova, TN.

She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law Robert and Karen Edmison of Columbus, sister Sheryl Eddings of Green Valley, Arizona, nieces Diane (Fluckiger) Boruch, Terri (Fluckiger) Hager, Megan Eddings and Brittany Eddings, nephews Mark (Paula) Fluckiger and Duane Fluckiger, many great and great great nieces and nephews, and her beloved rescue cat, Arianna.

She was preceded in death by her parents Herbert and Margaret (Zobel) Edmison, sister and brother-in-law Marlene and Carroll "Cubby" Fluckiger, brother-in-law Bruce Eddings and longtime partner, Jon Hill.

Memorials honoring Bev may be directed to the Collierville Animal Shelter at 603 E. South Street, Collierville, TN 38017 or to your local cat rescue or shelter.