Use of the word "Dutchy" to describe a personality trait

From my research, I have found this definition for Dutchy that I think suits your situation:

adjective

• Difficult to understand, slurred, imprecisely articulated (of one's speech) (dialect: regional to rural Central New York State)

He is so dutchy that we can hardly understand him.

I would assume this has a slight negative connotation so would fit into your impression that "they both were very fond of her, but...(she was Dutchy)"

The Urban Dictionary online has a number of ideas, but I suspect the OED gets closest

Frequency (in current use): Etymology: < Dutch adj., n.1, and adv. + -y suffix1. Dutch-like. 1893 J. H. Ross in King's Business (New Haven, Connecticut) 127 The faces [in Rembrandt's Scripture pictures] are not ideal but Dutchy.

My suspicion is that this was a late-nineteenth/early-twentieth American expression for a person of Dutch, or possibly German descent, perhaps one who didn't speak English entirely fluently.

Did your great, great grandmother have Dutch or German connections?

When I wore badly matched or loud clothes as a child, my mother told me I looked Dutchy. I took it to mean rather outlandish.

I am of German heritage and raised in the Midwest. My parents and grandparents used the term dutchy to describe a woman who dressed in and old-fashioned, overly conservative, unflattering manner. They didn't use the term specifically to describe a personality trait, but it could apply to a stern, conservative, old-fashioned person.

I know it's been a while since this thread was last posted on, but my mother who was from the midwest used the term "dutchy" to describe slurred speech. So you would be dutchy if you were partially deaf, or had just gotten your mouth numbed at the dentist office.

My ultra-modern German mother used the term interchangeably with “kitschy.” It was not flattering. She thought her old fashioned mother-in-law’s floral, knickknack laden decorating was DUTCHY!

My 93 year old mother was from Wisconsin. Her grandparents were German but I thought it was a midwestern expression. I never ever heard it used as a slur or in a derogatory way about a person, just in describing a style of clothing on a baby. A cute baby in an old fashioned style or print or dressed like an adult man with a bow tie or plaids, for example could be a little dutchy. Clothing a little too bright, too pattered, or fussy looking could be dutchy. It is hard to describe in words but it was a discriptive term about the style of clothing.

In reference to the term "Dutchy" - I heard it used when a person is extremely frugal, to the point they would do something the old way that was harder than to update which might cost money. Everything was very simple including clothing. Also well worn to make sure they got their monies worth out of a shirt, etc. Nothing in reference to personality, etc - just very thrifty.

My grandmother, who grew up in Iowa and whose grandparents immigrated from Germany, described her cousins as “dutchy.” When I asked her to clarify what she meant, she said they were not popular or stylish.