Harold Eugene Tuttle

Sumter, SC 29150. Sumter, SC… Harold E. "Hal" Tuttle, Major, United States Air Force (Retired), passed away on August 24th, 2020 after a three-year battle with COPD. His strong advice to family and anyone else who would listen is DON’T SMOKE!!!

Harold was born in January 1938 in Troy, Ohio, to the late Wayne and Frances Tuttle. He graduated from high school in Garland, Texas, then joined the Aggie Corps at Texas A&M. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in business and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air Force in 1960. In June 1961 he reported for his first assignment at James Connally AFB in Waco, TX for Navigator training. After Electronic Warfare Officer training at Mather AFB in Sacramento, CA, he was assigned as an EWO in MC-130 aircraft. Subsequent assignments took him to Special Operations units at Shaw AFB, SC; Norton AFB, CA; Pope AFB, NC; Nha Trang, Vietnam; and Rhein Main AFB, Germany. He retired from the Air Force in 1981 and soon after began teaching in the computer science department at Sumter County Technical College (later Central Carolina). He was always thrilled to see former students years after he had taught them and hear updates about their lives and careers.

He met his wife Barbara on a blind date in April 1960, and they have been married for 59 years. They enjoyed traveling all over the world, especially after he retired in 2001. Cruises were their favorite because they could visit several cities/sites but only have to move their suitcases once. In between their trips, Hal spent several years as a volunteer at the Shaw AFB Pharmacy. He especially enjoyed his hobbies of geocaching (he located caches in 49 states and several foreign countries), chatting online with worldwide friends from a Sudoku site, and making Excel spreadsheets for just about anything that had a numerical value or could be digitally organized.

Hal loved photography, but was famous for not wanting people in the pictures. He was full of good advice, including “invest early” and “wear your seatbelt” (before it was cool). He trusted his daughters’ driving (after all, he was their instructor), but always told them to “watch out for the crazies” before a long trip. One of his best was “if you don’t have fun, it’s not worth it.” While the timing wasn’t great (right before one daughter left for college), the intent was clear: try to find a job you like and hobbies that make you happy because life is meant to be enjoyed. 

He leaves behind his wife Barbara, daughters Sharon (Bob) and Patty (Joe); grandchildren Nick, Daniel, Katelyn, and Scott; brothers Roger (Cindy) of Ft Worth, TX, Paul (Dorothy) of Coram, NY, and John (Charlotte) of Houston, TX; and sister-in-law Sandy of Springfield, MO.

A visitation will be held on Friday, August 28, 2020, from 11:00–12:00 pm at Bullock Funeral Home with full military honors following at 12:00 pm.

In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Habitat for Humanity, 30 Bridge Ct., Sumter, SC 29150.
You may go to www.bullockfuneralhome.com and sign the family’s guest book.
 
The family has chosen Bullock Funeral Home for the arrangements. 

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