By Gary Lloyd
BIRMINGHAM — The memories became too hard to keep up with, after just a little while.
Memory after memory, picture after picture, prayer after prayer, each post to the “Brian Callans and Doug Hutcheson Memorial” Facebook group sent other posts down the page, one on top of the other.
Few posts didn’t get a lot of attention. Just about all did.
The memories and photos were of Brian Callans and Doug Hutcheson, the two men killed in a workplace shooting at the UPS Customer Center in Birmingham last Tuesday. The prayers were for them as well, and their families. Callans, 46, was engaged. Hutcheson, 33, a 1999 Clay-Chalkville High School graduate, was married to Tiffany Hutcheson with twin sons, Braddock and Sawyer.
Doug Hutcheson, left, and Brian Callans on Hutcheson’s wedding day on June 21, 2003
photo courtesy of the Brian Callans and Doug Hutcheson Memorial Facebook page
Callans worked at UPS since 1988 and was a business manager. He attended UAB from 1987 to 1992, where he studied management information systems. Michelle McDuffee Holmes said she graduated with Callans from Gardendale High School in 1986. She remembers Callans and another friend coming by her house three years after graduation to find out where she was registered for her wedding.
“Not only did they buy us a gift but (it) was part of my fine china collection,” Holmes said on Facebook. “Ok, I know that doesn’t seem like a lot to many, but the fact these were GUYS (that I considered like brothers) that would do this, seemed pretty remarkable to me. He was always very thoughtful.”
Hutcheson was an operations supervisor at UPS since July 2011. He was a UPS driver from June 2004 through July 2011 and worked as a pre-loader at UPS from August 1999 through June 2004.
Clay-Chalkville head football coach Jerry Hood was an assistant coach for the Cougars when Hutcheson played in the late 1990s.
“I do remember that he had just a super personality,” Hood said. “He was a very funny young man.”
Clay-Chalkville High School teacher Marsha Hancock taught Hutcheson in her health class. She said he was “well mannered and was liked by his peers.” Clay-Chalkville High School English teacher Brandy Shotts graduated with Hutcheson in 1999.
“He was one of the funniest guys I’ve ever known,” Shotts said. “He was always smiling, always laughing and always willing to cheer up his friends.”
Amanda Harper remembered finding out she was having twins, and gaining advice from Tiffany and Doug about the process. She said neither Hutcheson nor Callans deserved this.
“These two men left a lasting impression on everyone they met that will never be forgotten,” Harper said. “I know God gained two amazing angels Tuesday.”
Johnny Sanders said when Clay-Chalkville High School first opened in the 1990s, there was no weight room. He and Hutcheson were fellow linemen who were workout partners, so they did push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups together. They also did squats and calf raises with their partner on their back.
“Doug and I spent the entire summer on one another’s back…literally,” Sanders said on Facebook.
Tiffany’s cousin, Misty Hall Barmore, said Hutcheson made a lasting impression on people who attended her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
“He would have given his shirt off his back to anyone,” she said.
Shotts said she knows that Hutcheson would want to be remembered as a great father and husband.
“He would want that to be his legacy,” she said.
For more on Callans and Hutcheson, find “Brian Callans and Doug Hutcheson Memorial” on Facebook. To help the families, there are fundraising pages for Callans and Hutcheson set up at www.gofundme.com/f1f9nk and www.gofundme.com/DougHutcheson.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
