Obituary of Richard Donald Tuttle

Richard Donald Tuttle passed away on April 19, 2018 at his home in Santa Cruz in the arms of his wife Carol at the age of 81. Born September 23, 1936 in Santa Cruz, the son of Timothy L. Tuttle and Theresa M. Tuttle. He grew up in Santa Cruz having been raised by his grandparents, Joe and Mary Burkett. Richard attended local schools including, Holy Cross Elementary, Mission Hill Junior High and Santa Cruz High School. He was an officer on the Santa Cruz Police Reserves for 21 years directing traffic and working the dances at the Coconut Grove. He worked over 50 years for AT&T (aka Pacific Bell & SBC) where he retired as a construction manager.  He loved his job with the phone company, especially the winter storms in the middle of the night repairing fallen poles.

Richard was a member of Holy Cross Church where he married the love of his life in 1961, Carol L. Stagnaro. He enjoyed many trips with his wife, family and close friends to Lake Tahoe, across the country and around the globe.  He loved passing off his skills of “fixing anything” to his son Tim.  He cherished the experience of traveling with his son-in-law Tom and grandson Anthony to a number of baseball parks across the country. One of his greatest pleasures was watching his granddaughter Sydney play basketball and softball. In his younger years he loved to organize camping and house boating trips which included, his family, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, and nieces and nephews.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carol L. Tuttle; daughter, Lynn Falcon and her husband Tom; son, Tim Tuttle and his wife Christina; grandchildren, Anthony Falcon and Sydney Falcon; mother-in-law, Mamie Stagnaro; sister-in-law, Jeannie McPherson; brother-in-law, Robert Tara, aunt, Virginia Stagnaro and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by his sister-in-law, Theresa Tara, brother-in-law, Robert McPherson; father-in-law, John Stagnaro; Parents, Tim and Theresa Tuttle; grandparents, Joe and Mary Burkett and uncle, Ernie Stagnaro.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at Holy Cross Catholic Church 126 High St, Santa Cruz, Ca on Monday April 30, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. A vigil and recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at Benito & Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel 1050 Cayuga St., Santa Cruz, CA on Sunday April 29 at 7:00 pm. A visitation will be held at funeral home on Sunday from 3:00 pm until service time. Interment will be private. To express your condolences or share a remembrance with Richard’s family please visit www.pacificgardenschapel.com.

Donations to Dominican Hospital Acute Rehabilitation Center or your favorite Charity.