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Luton "Mother" to VCU dental students for 40 years passes

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Reprinted with permission from The Richmond Times Dispatch 

Hazel Jones Wrenn Luton worked at the VCU School of Dentistry from 1975 until 2016, ostensibly serving as a dental assistant instructor, HIPAA compliance coordinator and an assistant to the dean of clinics for several years.

However, her main position was "mother to everyone on the planet" and especially the dental students, according to Gloria F. Greiner-Callihan, associate dean for development and alumni at the school.

"We averaged over the years about 100 dental grad (per) class, in addition to many hygiene students, so you can see how many students she may have affected over the year, Greiner-Callihan said. There was a kind, gentle word or hug for everyone. Greiner-Callihan noted. "Don't have a place to go for Thanksgiving? She invited you over. When it was hot outside, come sit by my pool."

Mrs.Luton was known to have paid the board exam fee for at least one dental student who was out of the country and would have missed the payment deadline had it not been for her kindness. 

Always taking food to dental students, she was famous for her cakes, fried chicken, and her secret-recipe bump cookies. She kept cakes and snacks in her office for the students. 

She made birthday cakes for faculty members. One man, whose long-dead mother used to make him vanilla wafer cake got a memorable one on his birthday after Mrs.Luton found a recipe. 

"Hazel was an original believer in self-care" Greiner-Callihan said. "She always had perfectly manicured nails. Hazel's nail technician from years ago was so smart and so good with his hands that she encouraged him to finished undergrad (school) and apply to dental school. She encouraged him and stewarded this relationship for many years. He is a dentist in Northern Virginia." She was the surrogate mother of a student who, after graduation, would stay at her home several nights a week while he commuted to work in Petersburg. For a time, his children thought that she was their true grandmother.  

"When my son found out she wasn't, he cried" Dr. Mark Beltrami noted in an interview for VCU's Impact magazine. Beltrami made the initial donation for the Hazel Luton Scholarship, the first endowed scholarship named in honor of a staff member. One of its requirements is that the recipients exude the same loving, compassionate spirit as Mrs. Luton.  

Dr. John S. Kitrell recalled how Mrs.Luton "taught me how to learn something from my assistants and not the other way around" while he was working in her clinic. He initiated a second endowment in her name.

Mrs. Luton who previously had battled uterine, breast, liver, back and lastly, brain cancer for several years, died at home in Midlothian on Tuesday. She was 77.

"I went to see her at the hospital a couple of weeks ago, and was amazed at the forest of flowers in her room," Greiner-Callihan said. "As I sat with her, it became a revolving round of former students coming by, chairs brought in by the nursing staff at St.Mary's. and alumni coming from far away as Virginia Beach after they finished work."

Greiner-Callihan described the scene at Mrs.Luton's home in Midlothian the last days of her life: "On a quiet cove, there was literally no parking to be had. People were double- and triple-parked, and the (parked) cars went up adjacent streets. The sign on the storm door said 'Don't knock-just come in.'

"As you walked through the dining room to the kitchen, you passed many old friends and newer, younger friends. We each got about five minutes with Hazel, and she would rest for five in between." 

Her daughter Kendra Novey of Midlothian estimated that more than 500 people from the School of Dentistry visited her mother as she was dying. One was the dentist from Northern Virginia, Dr. Sonny Huong, who came with a request. Although Mrs.Luton may not have been aware of what was happening, he did her nails one last time the night before she died. 

A celebration of her life was held Friday at Woody Funeral Home's Huguenot Road in Midlothian. A graveside service will be Tuesday March 19th at 2pm at Greensville Memorial Cemetery on Hwy 301 in Emporia. 


A Lawrenceville native, she was one of 13 children. there was a significant age gap between Mrs. Luton, the baby, and her previous sibling. Her father, a post master, was 56 when she was born; he died of a heart attack when she was 11.

Her daughter Allison Wrenn of Fredericksburg recalled that because of the age gap with her siblings, Mrs. Luton sometimes lacked a playmate.

"When she was about 5 years old, she ordered a doll baby from a catalog," Wrenn said. "She thought it would be a real baby and somebody she could play with. She loved children. She would go to the post office every day, waiting for it to be delivered."

After graduating Brunswick County High School , she attended Elon College for a year and then Virginia Common-wealth University, where she earned a certificate as a dental assistant. She worked in Emporia for various dental practices before returning to VCU in 1975.

In her younger days, she was active with the Jaycees, was voted one of the Out-standing Young Women of America during the 1970s and was a member of the VCU Women's Auxiliary. 

In retirement, she visited her husband of 25 years, 93-year-old James "Pete" Luton, a retired dentist who lives in an assisted living facility, once or twice a day. She loved girls' night out and holding pool parties. 

She was preceded in death by 12 Jones siblings: Lynn, Clyde, Roy, Harvey, Bernard, Everett, Marion, Sidney Jr, Myrtle, Daisy Lee, and a baby who lied one day and Selana "Sis", who died in a car accident at the age of 18. 

In addition to her daughters and husband, survivors include a son, Randy Wrenn of Roanoke Rapids, N.C.; Step Children Ginger Mauney, Jim Luton, Rosemary Prince, Suzanne Harrell, Laurie Carr, and Rob Black. and eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, who knew her as "MiMi." Her four adored Miniature Schnauzers- Sidney, Baxter, Max, and Dieter-rounded out the family. 

Family and VCU family photos with Hazel Luton

View the embedded image gallery online at:
https://rrspin.com/news/949-luton-mother-to-vcu-dental-students-for-40-years-passes.html#sigProId12bbd92c34

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