Obituary of Gwendolyn McCutchan

McCutchan, Gwendolyn “Lyn”, 90, of St. Petersburg passed away May 2, 2021 at home peacefully. Born in Kenmore, New York raised in the Buffalo/Kenmore area she graduated from Kenmore West in 1948. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Alvin McCutchan, her parents, Stafford S. and Leafie O. Burnett; and her brother and sister-in-law Stafford Rixson and Shirley Burnett and grandson Robert G. Mast; favorite cousin William F. Burnett.  Gwendolyn is survived by her two sons, Don Pendleton and John Piotrowski (Sue) and her daughter Mindy Lea Pendleton; grandchildren Karamin C. Heuertz (Andrew), Jenna Lea Wimmer (Steve), Benjamin D. Mast; great-grandchildren, Dillan, Kenyan, Turner and Tucker Heuertz of St. Petersburg as well as Sola, Clement, and Pax Wimmer of Orlando; nephew Stafford Rixson Burnett, Jr. (Maria), Robert Burnett, nieces Susan Burnett Kittrell (Randy) and Donna Burnett Burley (Steven) of Texas.  Lyn was a source of strength and prayer for her family and friends. She traveled the world as the wife of an Army soldier and seized every opportunity to immerse herself and family in the culture everywhere they lived. Upon learning her firstborn was deaf, she learned how to do speech therapy to teach him and others to talk, did speech therapy with kids at the house from time to time over the years. She also became certified to be an aide for Special Needs Children in public schools. Stationed in Germany no castle was left unvisited or city unexplored, with Garmisch being her favorite part of Germany. While in Japan she was hired by a group of 5 Japanese surgeons to teach them English and they graciously included us in Japanese culture and traditions, family celebrations.  She became a secretary for Nationwide Insurance agents and soon became the secretary for the Regional Director and retired 20 years from that job with great acclamations and was the “den mother”, as she called it, for all the young agents. She loved to travel to Pigeon Forge in the RV with her husband Al and her grandchildren, stopping along the way at different factories, always looking for that teachable moment. In her last years she was most proud of her “Angel Stitches” ladies from local churches who sewed several different genres from burial gowns for stillborns to blankets and hats for new babies and her personal handiwork, the “snakes” for NICU babies to allowing for the tubes and wires to not interfere with baby movement. In lieu of flowers she would like donations to Angel Stitches which can be made by check to Mindy Pendleton and she will pass along to the head of Angel Stitches in her memory.  A celebration of life will be held on May 21^st at 6:00 PM at 3311 W. Maritana Drive, St. Petersburg Beach, FL 33706.