Charlotte Stannard Hutter Gale, 84, died peacefully on Tuesday, December 13, at her home in Smithfield surrounded by her family. She was born February 24, 1927, in Campbell County, now Lynchburg, Virginia, the third daughter of Harold Heyward Hutter and Mayme Traylor Hutter. Charlotte, known as "Hutter" since college to many of her friends, came to Smithfield in 1948 to teach, after graduating from Longwood College that year. In Smithfield, she met her future husband, Isle of Wight County native Robert Whitfield "Bob" Gale. They were married in 1949 and resided thereafter in
Smithfield. Bob, who operated a furniture business and a farm with his brother Joseph Bronson Gale for many years, predeceased her in 2001.

She is survived by sons Robert Hutter Gale of Smithfield and Judge Joseph Harold Gale of Washington, D.C., as well as grandsons Robert Shawn Edwards of Brentwood, Tennessee, Brian Hutter Gale of Smithfield, and Kyle Devonte Warren of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Her third son, Charles Whitfield Gale, predeceased her in August. Except for short periods when her three children were young, Charlotte taught at Smithfield High School from 1948 until her retirement in 1982. Her subjects included chemistry, history,
and advanced placement English. She was a member of the Col. William Allen Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Smithfield Baptist Church. After her retirement, she volunteered at the Smithfield Library and
enjoyed her bridge club. She was also keenly interested in the efforts to preserve "Sandusky", the home of her grandparents, Col. James Risque Hutter and Charlotte Stannard Hutter in Lynchburg, Virginia; and "Poplar Forest", the home of her great grandparents, Edward Sixtus Hutter and Emily Cobbs Hutter, in Bedford County, Virginia, originally built by Thomas Jefferson. Above all else, she devoted herself to her family.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm on Friday, December 16, at Smithfield Baptist Church, Smithfield, Virginia. Interment will follow at the Mill Swamp Baptist Church cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Historic Sandusky Foundation, 757 Sandusky Drive, Lynchburg, Virginia 24502 (www.historicsandusky.org) or to The Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest, P.O. Box 419, Forest, Virginia 24551
(www.poplarforest.org). Condolences may be registered online at www.parrfuneralhome.com