Obituary for John Porter Tuttle
John Porter Tuttle of Wells passed away peacefully on December 13, 2021 at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough following a period of failing health and medical challenges. He was the beloved husband of Nancye Davies Tuttle, with whom he shared 55 years of marriage.
John was born in Orange, New Jersey, on April 12, 1943, the oldest of Ada Michenfelder Tuttle and Colton Miller Tuttle’s four children. Raised in Montclair, New Jersey, he played football for Montclair High School and showed an affinity for science early on, including winning the prestigious Navy Science Cruiser Award, presented to only 80 students around the country, for his 1961 Newark Science Fair award-winning exhibit on tissue culture.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with double honors in 1967 from Lake Forest College in Illinois and a master’s degree in biochemistry in 1969 from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
John started his professional career in 1969 as Director of Quality Control at Worthington Biochemical Corporation in Freehold, N.J. He transferred to Millipore Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts in 1976, shortly after Millipore’s acquisition of Worthington. Over his 27 years at Millipore, he held many positions in Quality Management, including Quality Engineering Manager, Director of Quality Assurance and Plant Quality Manager in Jaffrey, N.H.
He developed the company’s first computerized database for the compilation and analysis of customer complaints in 1978. This invaluable tool was actively used world-wide for over 20 years and was featured in “Quality Progress,” the monthly journal of the American Society for Quality.
In addition, John led Millipore to its first International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 Quality Management System accreditation in 1994, the gold standard in quality management. This involved development and implementation of formal procedures for the Research and Development and Marketing departments at Millipore.
When he retired in 2003, John went to work as a consultant in quality management for Repligen Corporation, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based company that develops and produces materials used to manufacture biological drugs.
A renaissance man, John had many interests. He built radios, robots, televisions, and miniature shadow boxes and designed and maintained websites. As a young man, he raced sailboats and deep sea fished.
In his thirties, he took up running and downhill and cross-country skiing, always opting to take the last run of the day, even when his wife and fellow skiers were settled by the fire for apres ski.
A talented photographer, he shot photos all his life, turning a hobby that began in his youth, when he and his father set up a darkroom, into a business. He exhibited his work in solo and group shows, was a member of the Arts League of Lowell and proudly had his photo of Whistler Park in Lowell accepted into the Enterprise Bank art collection.
John never did anything half-heartedly. A small Department 56 village led him to design and build a huge, computerized LGB model train layout, complete with lighted buildings, skiers, skaters and more. The trains took over the living room of the Tuttles’ Acton, MA home and became the focal point of many happy Christmas seasons, John’s favorite time of year.
In 2013, he and Nancye realized a long-time dream when they sold their Massachusetts home of 37 years and relocated to Maine, where they had vacationed many times.
John became a valued board member of the Windward Pointe Condominium Association, serving as board liaison to the Architectural Review Committee and co-chair of the Communications Committee. He was responsible for designing and co-editing his community’s award-winning newsletter. He was also an active volunteer at Habitat for Humanity York County, managing the website, taking photographs, and handling other media.
John loved visiting with family, friends, neighbors, and a little dog named Lance on his front porch. Even in winter, he bundled up, put on the heaters, and took to the porch, always eager to share life stories.
John loved his family and adored being Jack, Molly and Claire’s “Pa,” the name Jack gave him as a toddler.
John was pre-deceased by his parents and a younger sister, Wendy Lee, who died as a newborn.
Besides his wife and grandchildren, John is survived by his children, Wendy Lee Tuttle of Baltimore, MD., and Heather Lynne (Tuttle) Matthews and her husband John Matthews of Ayer, Massachusetts and Kennebunkport. He is also survived by brothers George Tuttle and his wife Corrine of Southlake, Texas, and Richard Tuttle and his wife Sara of Lilburn, Georgia, and Shanghai, China; sisters-in-law Lynne Davies and her husband Jim Hansen of Selbyville, Del., and Carole Furlong of Danbury, Ct., and several nieces, nephews and dear friends.
John’s family thanks the medical and nursing staffs at Maine Medical Center in Portland and Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford for their expertise and kindness during John’s recent hospitalizations and the staff and nurses at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House for their compassionate care during John’s final days.
A celebration of John’s long, productive life will be held on Saturday, June 4th, 2022 at 1 p.m. at St. David’s Church in Kennebunk.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Hospice of Southern Maine, 390 US-1, Scarborough, Maine 04074 or Habitat for Humanity York County, P.O. Box 267, Kennebunk, Maine 04043.
To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit John’s Book of Memories Page at www.bibberfuneral.com
Arrangements are in care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer Street, Kennebunk, ME 04043.
John was born in Orange, New Jersey, on April 12, 1943, the oldest of Ada Michenfelder Tuttle and Colton Miller Tuttle’s four children. Raised in Montclair, New Jersey, he played football for Montclair High School and showed an affinity for science early on, including winning the prestigious Navy Science Cruiser Award, presented to only 80 students around the country, for his 1961 Newark Science Fair award-winning exhibit on tissue culture.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with double honors in 1967 from Lake Forest College in Illinois and a master’s degree in biochemistry in 1969 from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
John started his professional career in 1969 as Director of Quality Control at Worthington Biochemical Corporation in Freehold, N.J. He transferred to Millipore Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts in 1976, shortly after Millipore’s acquisition of Worthington. Over his 27 years at Millipore, he held many positions in Quality Management, including Quality Engineering Manager, Director of Quality Assurance and Plant Quality Manager in Jaffrey, N.H.
He developed the company’s first computerized database for the compilation and analysis of customer complaints in 1978. This invaluable tool was actively used world-wide for over 20 years and was featured in “Quality Progress,” the monthly journal of the American Society for Quality.
In addition, John led Millipore to its first International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 Quality Management System accreditation in 1994, the gold standard in quality management. This involved development and implementation of formal procedures for the Research and Development and Marketing departments at Millipore.
When he retired in 2003, John went to work as a consultant in quality management for Repligen Corporation, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based company that develops and produces materials used to manufacture biological drugs.
A renaissance man, John had many interests. He built radios, robots, televisions, and miniature shadow boxes and designed and maintained websites. As a young man, he raced sailboats and deep sea fished.
In his thirties, he took up running and downhill and cross-country skiing, always opting to take the last run of the day, even when his wife and fellow skiers were settled by the fire for apres ski.
A talented photographer, he shot photos all his life, turning a hobby that began in his youth, when he and his father set up a darkroom, into a business. He exhibited his work in solo and group shows, was a member of the Arts League of Lowell and proudly had his photo of Whistler Park in Lowell accepted into the Enterprise Bank art collection.
John never did anything half-heartedly. A small Department 56 village led him to design and build a huge, computerized LGB model train layout, complete with lighted buildings, skiers, skaters and more. The trains took over the living room of the Tuttles’ Acton, MA home and became the focal point of many happy Christmas seasons, John’s favorite time of year.
In 2013, he and Nancye realized a long-time dream when they sold their Massachusetts home of 37 years and relocated to Maine, where they had vacationed many times.
John became a valued board member of the Windward Pointe Condominium Association, serving as board liaison to the Architectural Review Committee and co-chair of the Communications Committee. He was responsible for designing and co-editing his community’s award-winning newsletter. He was also an active volunteer at Habitat for Humanity York County, managing the website, taking photographs, and handling other media.
John loved visiting with family, friends, neighbors, and a little dog named Lance on his front porch. Even in winter, he bundled up, put on the heaters, and took to the porch, always eager to share life stories.
John loved his family and adored being Jack, Molly and Claire’s “Pa,” the name Jack gave him as a toddler.
John was pre-deceased by his parents and a younger sister, Wendy Lee, who died as a newborn.
Besides his wife and grandchildren, John is survived by his children, Wendy Lee Tuttle of Baltimore, MD., and Heather Lynne (Tuttle) Matthews and her husband John Matthews of Ayer, Massachusetts and Kennebunkport. He is also survived by brothers George Tuttle and his wife Corrine of Southlake, Texas, and Richard Tuttle and his wife Sara of Lilburn, Georgia, and Shanghai, China; sisters-in-law Lynne Davies and her husband Jim Hansen of Selbyville, Del., and Carole Furlong of Danbury, Ct., and several nieces, nephews and dear friends.
John’s family thanks the medical and nursing staffs at Maine Medical Center in Portland and Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford for their expertise and kindness during John’s recent hospitalizations and the staff and nurses at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House for their compassionate care during John’s final days.
A celebration of John’s long, productive life will be held on Saturday, June 4th, 2022 at 1 p.m. at St. David’s Church in Kennebunk.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Hospice of Southern Maine, 390 US-1, Scarborough, Maine 04074 or Habitat for Humanity York County, P.O. Box 267, Kennebunk, Maine 04043.
To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit John’s Book of Memories Page at www.bibberfuneral.com
Arrangements are in care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer Street, Kennebunk, ME 04043.