Irving W. Tuttle
August 4, 2009
HANOVER, N.H. — Irving W. ("Tut") Tuttle, 90, died peacefully at his
home in Hanover, N.H., on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009.
Though failing in health for several years, Mr. Tuttle retained the
graciousness, generosity of spirit and consideration for others that
distinguished him throughout his life until the end.
"Tut" Tuttle, as he was always known,
was born in 1918 in Carlstadt,
N.J. He was the first member of his family to attend college and it was
through his studies that he met Elizabeth ("Betty") Gates, a school
librarian, to whom he was married in 1941, for more than 60 years, until
her death in 2003, and with whom he raised two children, Peter and
Leslie.
Tut graduated from Dartmouth in 1949, after serving in the U.S. Army
in Korea, and he was a purchasing director in the papermaking industry
for most of his professional career.
But once the children were raised and educated, Tut was able to give
more of himself to small boat racing and sailing, which was the great
passion of his later adult life. He was twice the national champion of
the Bullseye Sloop Class in 1981 and 1984, and he served in 1985 as
commodore of the Sandy Bay Yacht Club, in Rockport, where the couple
lived for many years. Subsequently, they lived in Northborough, to be
near Leslie and their grandchildren.
Tut and Betty's move to the Kendal retirement community in Hanover,
New Hampshire, followed Tut's retirement from competitive sailing. Betty
died of cancer in 2003, and in 2004 Tut married Rebecca ("Becky")
Nussdorfer, and for the rest of his life Tut marveled at his good
fortune and happiness to be married to a second wonderful woman.
Tut is survived by his wife, Rebecca Tuttle; son, Peter Tuttle, of
Dublin, N.H.; daughter, Leslie Tuttle, of Cambridge; daughter-in-law,
Edith Tuttle; son-in-law, Lawrence Susskind; and his grandchildren, Noah
Susskind, of New York, Lily Susskind, of Baltimore; sisters-in-law,
Marion Tuttle, of Silver Spring, Md., Katherine Gates, of Paragonah,
Utah; nieces and nephews from both Gates and Tuttle families, and
stepchildren from Becky's first marriage.
ARRANGEMENTS: Memorial celebrations will be scheduled for early
autumn in Hanover and Rockport. The family hopes that Tut's friends will
remember him by teaching a child to identify a flower, or by taking a
child sailing.
