Ira J. Hutchison, 84, an expert on therapeutic recreation who, in the 1970s, became the first African American deputy director of the National Park Service, died Feb. 12 of congestive heart failure at his home in Silver Spring.

Mr. Hutchison developed recreation programs for emotionally disturbed people and drug addicts before joining the Park Service in 1972 as chief of community programs for the National Capital Region in Washington.

He served as superintendent of the National Capital Parks-East region and later as superintendent of the Park Service region that included New York Harbor. In 1977, Mr. Hutchison was named deputy director of the Park Service. In that position, the second-highest in the agency, he oversaw more than 300 park and recreation areas throughout the United States.

Six years later, he moved to the office of the secretary of the interior, where his mission was to increase opportunities for women and minorities. He organized a cooperative education program with 15 historically black colleges.

He retired from the federal government in 1994. Mr. Hutchison founded the Roundtable Associates, an organization for African American professionals in the fields of parks, recreation and conservation.

Ira James Hutchison was born in Topeka, Kan., and was a 1950 graduate of Kansas State University. He received a master's degree in therapeutic recreation from Columbia University in 1965.

From 1950 to 1963, Mr. Hutchison was recreation director of Topeka State Hospital in Kansas.

He worked in the rehabilitation of emotionally disturbed hospital patients in New York City from 1963 to 1967. He came to the Washington area in 1967 with the National Recreation and Park Association and directed its therapeutic branch.

In 2004, the association presented him with its Ralph C. Wilson award for long-term service.

Mr. Hutchison wrote articles for professional publications and won many awards, including the Cornelius Amory Pugsley National Medal in 1997 for his contributions to parks and conservation.

His marriage to Barbara Revely Hutchison ended in divorce.

A daughter from his first marriage, Rhonda C. Hutchison, died in 2001. A niece he adopted during his first marriage, Michelle L. Hutchison, died in 1996.

Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Patricia Miller Hutchison of Silver Spring; a son from his first marriage, J. Scott Hutchison of Hyattsville; three daughters from his second marriage, Kandl L. Robinson of Clarksville, Kerri L. Hall of Laurel and Angela D. Hutchison of Greenbelt; and eight grandchildren.

- Matt Schudel