The Life of GWEN PATRICIA TUTTLE
Gwen Patricia Tuttle, 82, passed away January 6, 2015 at Mercy Hospice in Johnston with her family at her side. Born February 2, 1932 in Barrington, Illinois, she was the daughter of Dolores (Milkwick) and Samuel Dorsey. She graduated from the Iowa School for the Deaf and attended Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
Pat, as she was commonly known, was married 61 years to the love of her life, Marvin Tuttle. They married November 27, 1953, in Fremont, Nebraska and together proceeded to raise 7 children at their life-long home in Saylor Township, Des Moines. After many years of providing loving and devoted care to her family at home, she worked for the U.S. Post Office for nearly 20 years, retiring in 1996. She was a member of Calvary Lutheran Church.
Blessed with an adventurous spirit, an insatiable curiosity about the world, and a never-ending thirst for new knowledge which she passed on and inspired in her family, Pat traveled with her husband Marvin to all of the 50 states and almost all of the Canadian provinces. With her love of history and family in mind, she also traveled several times to Norway and the United Kingdom to explore her Norwegian and British ancestry. She was a determined researcher of the Tuttle and Dorsey family lineage, developing genealogy skills that enabled her to help her family understand its heritage in America and abroad.
Pat was an award-winning seamstress and needlepointer, often designing and sewing clothes for her children and grandchildren. She received blue-ribbon honors in 1971 for a quilt she developed and sewed by hand for more than 5 years for competition at the Iowa State Fair. She was also known as a meticulous organizer, keeping track of all of her children’s various school sporting and social activities with handmade calendars. Like her father, she was an avid supporter of St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Her family lovingly remembers her as a gentle, kind, gracious and courageous woman who made the world a little better for everyone she met and touched.
Preceded in death by her parents, she is survived by her husband, her children Marvin, Jr. (Lynn) of Centennial, CO; Patrick (Dana) of Winnetka, IL; Eric of Omaha, NE; Dolly (Mark) Murray of Council Bluffs, IA; Maureen of Des Moines, IA; Cathy (Troy) Murphy of Johnston, IA; and Michael (Dani) of Stoughton, WI, sister Carol (Roger) Senty of West Des Moines, IA and brother Sam Dorsey of Springfield, MO. She dearly loved her 21 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
A private family memorial service will be held on her birthday February 2 with a celebration of her life open to friends of the family later that day. Details will be announced later. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions in her memory be made to Mercy Hospice in Johnston or the Iowa School for the Deaf Foundation.
Pat, as she was commonly known, was married 61 years to the love of her life, Marvin Tuttle. They married November 27, 1953, in Fremont, Nebraska and together proceeded to raise 7 children at their life-long home in Saylor Township, Des Moines. After many years of providing loving and devoted care to her family at home, she worked for the U.S. Post Office for nearly 20 years, retiring in 1996. She was a member of Calvary Lutheran Church.
Blessed with an adventurous spirit, an insatiable curiosity about the world, and a never-ending thirst for new knowledge which she passed on and inspired in her family, Pat traveled with her husband Marvin to all of the 50 states and almost all of the Canadian provinces. With her love of history and family in mind, she also traveled several times to Norway and the United Kingdom to explore her Norwegian and British ancestry. She was a determined researcher of the Tuttle and Dorsey family lineage, developing genealogy skills that enabled her to help her family understand its heritage in America and abroad.
Pat was an award-winning seamstress and needlepointer, often designing and sewing clothes for her children and grandchildren. She received blue-ribbon honors in 1971 for a quilt she developed and sewed by hand for more than 5 years for competition at the Iowa State Fair. She was also known as a meticulous organizer, keeping track of all of her children’s various school sporting and social activities with handmade calendars. Like her father, she was an avid supporter of St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Her family lovingly remembers her as a gentle, kind, gracious and courageous woman who made the world a little better for everyone she met and touched.
Preceded in death by her parents, she is survived by her husband, her children Marvin, Jr. (Lynn) of Centennial, CO; Patrick (Dana) of Winnetka, IL; Eric of Omaha, NE; Dolly (Mark) Murray of Council Bluffs, IA; Maureen of Des Moines, IA; Cathy (Troy) Murphy of Johnston, IA; and Michael (Dani) of Stoughton, WI, sister Carol (Roger) Senty of West Des Moines, IA and brother Sam Dorsey of Springfield, MO. She dearly loved her 21 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
A private family memorial service will be held on her birthday February 2 with a celebration of her life open to friends of the family later that day. Details will be announced later. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions in her memory be made to Mercy Hospice in Johnston or the Iowa School for the Deaf Foundation.