New Members
Jerry & Kathy Hutchins returned to Wichita in April last year after spending seven years in Surprise, AZ. Jerry was born and raised in the country outside Tahlequah, OK. He graduated from Northeastern State University there, majoring in physics and math, and then began graduate studies in physics at the University of Arkansas. This was during the Vietnam War, so he joined the ROTC program and then left school to serve as a pilot in the Air Force, flying C130 aircraft for five years. After he left the Air Force, Jerry returned to U of A and earned a master’s degree in engineering science. He then worked for Cessna in Wichita for 37 years as a structural engineer. Kathy was born and raised in Wichita and graduated from West High School. After she earned an associate’s degree in business from Newman University, she worked for Cessna in the Interior Engineering Department for 34 years. Jerry and Kathy met at Cessna and have been married for 15 years. They both retired in 2016. Between them they have two sons (his) and two daughters (hers) and 10 grandchildren (nine boys and one girl). Jerry enjoyed playing softball four days every week, year-round, while they lived in Arizona. Now he likes to play bridge at the Park City Senior Center. He also enjoys yardwork and helping on a friend’s farm north of Inman. Kathy enjoys sewing quilts and doing machine embroidery. Jerry was a member of the Westlink congregation from 1978 to 2007, so he knows several Northside members who were there at that time. In fact, one of those former members, Ilonda Griffee, is the mother of one of his daughters-in-law.
Brooke Gibbs was baptized at Northside in March. She was born in Wichita and has lived here most of her 16 years. Brooke is a junior a North High School and will graduate in 2026. Her favorite subject in school is English, and she said she’s not a big fan of math. Brooke volunteers as an equipment manager on the school football team. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to country music (Cody Johnson is her favorite) and painting with acrylics. Brooke initially came to Northside because of her good friend, Kamerynn Shortt, but now says she also loves being part of the Northside youth group and has especially enjoyed getting to know people here and going to Teen Camp and the girls’ retreat. Brooke loves animals, and her family raises chickens. One time they bought four chicks that were all supposed to be female, but three of them turned out to be roosters! She also has a couple of dogs. One of them is a blind and deaf chihuahua pug mix that a friend found and gave to her family a couple of years ago. Brooke said he is a cute, chunky boy who loves attention, taking naps, and food. She is also a big fan of food, especially M&Ms and hamburgers with avocados.