CHELSEA — Robert “Bobby” Hutchinson’s perseverance and spirit as he slowly made his way around the center of town with his walker was an inspiration to many.

Afflicted with scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine which worsened as he aged, and learning disabilities that went unaddressed in his youth, Hutchinson nevertheless maintained his independence the best he could and accepted his limitations with grace and dignity.

Rarely, if ever, did he complain about the hand life had dealt him. He loved to tell a joke, was a passionate Red Sox fan and made the best he could of what he had.

“He was heroic and he always had a smile,” said Susan Hardin, a caregiver for Hutchinson for more than 20 years. “ ‘Oh, you know I got this back thing’ ” was the most he would allow when asked how he was doing, Hardin said. “He just had this enduring sense of being happy in the world.”

Hutchinson died at the age of 82, 10 days after being struck by a car on the evening of Nov. 7 as he crossed Route 113 to get to his home up the hill from the center Chelsea.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing, Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer said last week. Palmer, whose department provides coverage for Chelsea, said that authorities know who allegedly struck Hutchinson but have not released the driver’s name because the investigation with the Orange County State’s Attorney’s Office remains active. Palmer anticipates more information being made public in the next several weeks.

Hutchinson’s death shook the town. The Chelsea Facebook page filled up with remembrances and expressions of sorrow at Hutchinson’s death and admiration for how he made his place in the world.

Hutchinson lived most of his life in the house where he grew up with his parents Clyde and Verle, brother Tom and sister Eudora, all of whom predeceased him.

Hutchinson’s sister-in-law, Carol Hutchinson Hughes, was married to Tom, who died in 2009. She remembers her first time coming north to Vermont around 1980 with Tom, whom she met when he was in North Carolina working to help start a manufacturing plant for GE Plastics.

“His mom was one of the most gentle, kind and empathetic people I have ever met, and a lot of that was in Bob as well,” Hutchinson Hughes said in a phone interview from her home in North Carolina, where she is a college professor. “He was just very kind and had a great sense of humor and loved to joke with people. He just had that really sweet spirit. His was an ordinary life but, I believe he touched a lot of people.”

In spite of his physical limitations, Hutchinson worked a variety of odd jobs, including helping his mother, who was the night custodian at several buildings in town. After her death, he took over the job for a while.

“He was in pain, I think, most of his life with scoliosis and arthritis,” Hutchinson Hughes said. “Getting around was very difficult for him, but he persevered. He really was a trooper. He just carried on.”

Hutchinson walked each day the roughly half-mile to Hardin’s home, up the hill on Maple Avenue, and did a series of handyman jobs around the 1700s-era farmhouse.

Before his condition worsened, Hutchinson shoveled snow, cut grass and made household repairs for Hardin.

“I had gratitude every day, and part of my gratitude was because Bob worked here and helped my family in so many ways and did a lot of things,” Hardin said. “ … When I say he is a source of gratitude for me, I mean that no matter what I was going through, I always would look at him and see what he was carrying and his grace as he made his way through the world and his sense of humor.”

As time went on and the curvature of his spine worsened and he could no longer do many of the chores at Hardin’s home, Hutchinson still made the walk to see her each day.

“This was his place,” she said. “He celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter here. This was his family.”

Will Gilman, owner of Will’s General Store in the center of Chelsea, remembered Hutchinson visiting the store daily long before Gilman bought it in 1985.

“When I was a kid, you knew you would see Bob, especially in the evening,” Gilman recalled. “He would sit there and watch TV with a soda and candy bar. Later, when we got Red Sox games he would watch them. He was a big Red Sox fan.”

Gilman remembers Hutchinson as a quiet person with a dry sense of humor who always seemed to be out and about in Chelsea.

“There is Bob, heading home. There is Bob, going to Susan’s. He was just somebody you saw all the time.

“He didn’t talk much and spoke very quietly. He was not someone who would strike up a conversation,” Gilman said. “I think he was very content with his life.”

Frank Keene, owner of Keene’s Garage in Chelsea, went to high school with Hutchinson’s brother and was a close friend of Hutchinson’s for years.

“I thought the world of Bob,” Keene said. “He was part of the town.”

In a tribute to Hutchinson, published recently in The Herald, Keene remembered seeing Hutchinson pushing his lawn mower around town to grass-cutting jobs and being a fixture at high school basketball games in town.

Keene, who was part of the car racing scene for 30 years, said Hutchinson was a regular at his shop on Maple Avenue.

Keene and Hutchinson traveled regularly together in a van to races in Vermont, New York and Canada.

“He helped out around the shop as much as he could, and he really enjoyed going to the races,” Keene said in an interview.

Hutchinson’s physical limitations did not stop him from attending his favorite pursuits, including the races and the Tunbridge World’s Fair each September.

“He loved everything he was doing and appreciated what he had. He never wanted for anything, and I think that is why everybody loved him,” Hardin said. “People looked out for him, especially after his mom died.”

For a time, Hardin was also caring for her sister, Peggy, who suffered from multiple sclerosis before her death last July.

“It was gratifying every single day to watch these two people who (…) had deficits,” Hardin said. “They each had their challenges and were like siblings together.”

In his tribute to Hutchinson, Keene wrote that he and his companion, Terry Carty, visited their friend every day while he was in hospice and spoke to him, hoping he could hear and understand.

Hutchinson was brought to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center after the Nov. 7 accident and, about four days later, went into hospice at the Jack Byrne Center, where he died on Nov. 17.

Keene recalled the dark and rainy day his friend was laid to rest in Highland Cemetery in Chelsea.

“I was brought to tears by the crowd that showed up to bid farewell to a wonderful man who touched many hearts. We miss seeing Bobby going up and down Maple Avenue several times a day.”

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.