Donald A. Tutt

Donald (Don) Tutt was born December 8, 1952 to Paul Robert and Margaret (Peggy) Jane Tutt. He was predeceased by his parents and his wife’s parents, Jack and Mae Wyatt. He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Shirlene Wyatt Tutt, his Uncle Marshall Draper (Joyce), his siblings; Paul Tutt (Barbara), Beth Guenther (Richard), Susan Tutt (Mike Ouimet) and Marshall Tutt; his nieces and nephews; Shawn Guenther (Melissa), Rebecca Jones (Chris), Seth Guenther (Ruthann), Dustin Tutt (Fran), Cory Tutt and Kimberly Tutt and 4 great nephews and 4 great nieces with another due soon and many cousins.

Don was a favorite son and brother, a best friend, an excellent confidant, a problem solver, and was always ready to lend a hand to anyone and everyone in need. Don was best at making Momma laugh, and working on cars with Hemi. Shirlene never needed a handyman because Don could take care of everything around the house and in the garage. And at work, one of his supervisors remarked that “Don is as handy as a pocket on a shirt.”

Don was a natural teacher - there are scores of people with stories of how he taught them to change a tire, gap a spark plug, trouble shoot a computer issue, repair an electrical device, create a solution for so many problems and the list goes on and on. He didn’t just SHOW you how to do something but also WHEN it may be needed and HOW a certain fix affected the overall car or network or device. Once Don taught you something, you were confident enough to teach others. Truly a perpetual gift.

Don loved to read and learn. He graduated from Reagan High School in 1971 and from Southwest Texas State University in 1982. He started a lending library wherever he was so he could share his books and enjoyed discussing the stories and authors. Once he learned something he couldn’t wait to share it with others that would benefit from it. He was ambidextrous and could draw, paint or work or handle tools with both hands. His brain worked that way too so he worked at understanding many sides of an issue and could explain his perspective on anything in a way that others would easily understand.

He enjoyed all kinds of games and was especially good at dominos. He played some type of game every day at lunch with co-workers. He was good at pool because he could see all the angles needed to hit the pockets. He pitched for his softball team, the Sluggz and never got hit. They didn’t win very often but they were lifelong friends enjoying their time together. We laugh at still using the nicknames he gave every player.

Cars were always Don’s zone. As a toddler, he would point at a vehicle and tell you the make and model. As he grew, he also knew the year and size of the engine as well as the pros and cons of owning each one. He only had a few cars but two of them were Chevrolet El Caminos that he kept in top running condition. He and Shirlene enjoyed visiting many swap meets through the years.

He retired from TxDOT after 40 years of service that began when he was in high school cleaning the floors at Camp Hubbard. He worked his way up after college to IT positions. He served in the Texas National Guard for six years. He worked on airplane control panels and was offered a civilian position to continue that work after discharge.