Kathlyn J. Tuttle

Kathlyn Jackson Tuttle, whose long life was defined and enriched by faith, family and friends, passed away on Monday, Nov. 1. She was 94, the same age as her beloved husband Bob when he passed in 2017.

Kathy, an Arkansas native who had suffered from increasing health issues in recent years before a final hospitalization in Chattanooga, Tenn., had been residing with a son and daughter-in-law, David Kendall and Mellanie Tuttle, in Mentone, Ala. She spent most of her life in Texas and Georgia.

Kathy was born near Mulberry, Ark., on March 4, 1927, amid humble surroundings - a 3-room shack on land owned by her grandfather. At Bob's urging in their later years, she wrote an account of her life, with a remarkable memory of early days when the family home was so cold in winter that a bucket of water froze overnight in their kitchen. With everyone pitching in, the family barely eked out a livelihood. Kathy was proud to recall picking 100 pounds of cotton in a single day. Lessons learned in those early days stayed with her. She made most of her clothes for much of her life and some for her children, long after it had been a necessity.

An ardent Christian, Kathy accepted Christ as her Savior at age 16 and spent the rest of her life in active devotion to her church. For many years she led Sunday school classes for 2-year-olds as their parents attended Baptist services. She served as treasurer of First Baptist Church in Roswell, Ga., for seven years. After moving later to Forsyth County, she and Bob were among 12 families who founded Lakeland Baptist Church in 1993. The pair hosted popular annual picnics at their home that were attended by up to 175 church members and friends. She and Bob were elected delegates to the Southern Baptist Convention. Their lives were a model and a shining light for anyone who knew them.

She had met Bob while she was a bookkeeper at Dyke Lumber Co. in Rogers, Ark., after the family had moved there when she was 14. They married on June 1, 1949, and spent nearly 68 active and productive years together before Bob's death.

Bob's work as an electrical engineer took them to Dallas, Fort Worth, Philadelphia, El Paso, and finally Georgia, where they initially settled in Roswell.

Kathy was a resourceful Renaissance Woman. When they decided to leave Roswell and build a home in Cobb County, she assumed the role of general contractor and pushed the project to completion by taking 3 to 5 bids on every purchase of material. Along the way, she and Bob handled some of the construction tasks themselves as they worked long hours side-by-side. They shared similar duties when they built a new home near Cumming in Forsyth County after 8 years in Cobb. The Forsyth home, with her favorite ponies and horses roaming the acreage and quiet hours spent by Kathy on the front porch and the creekside gazebo, became very special.

Kathy lived for her family. Nothing was more important except possibly her faith. She was a proud and loving matriarch of a growing family, the mother of 3 sons as well as a grandmother and great-grandmother. She was always active in her sons' lives as they grew up, serving as "designated driver," Cub Scout den mother, disciplinarian, nurse and whatever duty was needed. She and Bob were delighted when an opportunity developed to care for first one, then two, grandchildren while their parents were at work. Kyle and Julie have wonderful memories of their time with Nana and Papa as do Kenda and Kaylon, who often spent summers there.

While caring for their grandchildren, Bob and Kathy also lovingly took into their home Kathy's mother, Mattie Jackson, as her health declined. Thus, 3 generations were living under the same roof.

As if their lives were not busy enough, Kathy and Bob became active in Republican politics in Forsyth County. Kathy worked at a voting station one year from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. She and Bob attended the inauguration and a gala for President George Bush in 2001, despite Kathy's broken leg suffered in a fall.

Surgeries throughout her life as well as sometimes-undiagnosed illnesses never obstructed her determination to live life to the fullest, nor did a shy nature she often lamented. Her interests were extensive. She was an avid reader throughout her life and also came to enjoy painting, producing many paintings over the years.

Interest in her family's history intensified after research connected her family to the historic Mayflower voyage and to Scottish nobility. She became a member of the Mayflower Society and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Borrowing a line from the family research, Kathy said in her own history, "I am a child of God. I am somebody." Kathy was indeed somebody: a loving, loved, giving, caring, kind, passionately reverent child of God.

Survivors include sons: Robert Kevin (Diane), David Kendall (Mellanie) and Murray Kent (Laurie); grandchildren: Kenda Rakusin (Ronnie), Kaylon Tuttle (Megan), Kyle Tuttle and Julie Tuttle Gordon (Andrew); great-grandchildren: Cesia, Chantal, Levi and Arlo; brother: Bill Jackson (Jill).

Visitation will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, at McDonald and Son Funeral Home in Cumming. Funeral services will follow at 2 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Interment will be conducted on Monday, Dec. 20, at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, where Kathy's precious Bob is buried.