Robert Tuff, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and uncle passed into eternal life on the 12th of November, four days after his 87th birthday. Born and raised on a farm in Barton Township, North Dakota, he was the youngest of twelve children of William Tuff and Eileen Carl-Tuff. He graduated from Middle River High School in Minnesota along with ten others in 1949 and, after working on his brother Dave's homestead in Wyoming for two years, joined the Navy on October 19, 1951. He was serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Leyte when she suffered a catastrophic explosion in Boston harbor in 1953. He also sailed around the world aboard the USS Midway. Honorably discharged from the Navy on October 11, 1955 he moved to Costa Mesa, California to live with his sister Gertrude and her family after enduring his last North Dakota winter. While there he met and eventually married Donna Butler of Tustin in 1959. With Donna's support, Robert worked to put himself through college, graduating from Cal State Long Beach with a BA in History in 1964. Upon graduation he was employed at Southern California Edison, where he became a control operator at steam generation facilities in Redondo Beach, Huntington Beach, Laughlin, and Etiwanda. After Robert and Donna moved to Upland to raise a family, Robert generously donated his free time to the Boy Scouts of America, Little League Baseball, the Utility Workers Union of America, and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Ontario. After retiring from SCE in 1994, Robert donated even more of his time and considerable talents to his church and delighted in his family, particularly his grandchildren, whom he cherished. He will be missed by many, including his wife Donna of 59 years, his sons Jim and Brian, his five grandchildren, his sister Dorris of Windsor Hills, Iowa, and countless nieces and nephews, whom he loved very much. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his honor to either Lutheran World Hunger (www.ELCA.org) or to the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan, North Dakota (www.ndvcf.org).
