Doris “Dory” (Towle) Tuttle, of Viola, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at the age of 100, surrounded by family.

Dory was born in Napoleon, N.D., on Oct. 6, 1923, to Ethel Close Towle and Howard Coleman Towle. She was the third-born of four sisters: Muriel, Lorraine “Pat,” Dory and Bonnie. She graduated from Napoleon High School in 1941 and in the fall of 1942 persuaded her parents to let her join her older sister in Oakland, Calif. When World War II broke out, Dory became a “Rosie the Riveter,” operating an acetylene torch to build “Liberty Ships” in Richmond Shipyard No. 2. She earned enough money to enroll at the University of California, Berkeley, at a time when tuition was just $27.50 per term. She became a member of Alpha Delta Chi and graduated in 1946 with a degree in home economics.

Doris’ first teaching job was in Yreka, Calif., where she met and married Robert “Bob” Young Tuttle. The couple settled on his ranch in Scotts Valley, Calif., where they had three children and were active in their church. In 1965, they moved to Farmington, Wash., and then settled in a farmhouse between Palouse and Potlatch in the 1970s. Doris got her library sciences teaching certificate and taught home economics and library in Tekoa, Wash., for the rest of her career.

After retirement, Dory and Bob joined Servants On Wheels Ever Ready (SOWERS) Ministry, an RV ministry, doing service jobs throughout the West. Dory and Bob enjoyed traveling in their RV and attending fiddle shows with the Idaho Old Time Fiddlers. Dory was a member of the Palouse Federated Church, where she sang in the choir. Singing was a lifelong passion and Dory was a soprano soloist on many occasions throughout her life. Dory was also a talented seamstress, sewing clothes and other items for friends and family, and in her later years was an active quilter, making piles of quilts to donate to Lutheran World Relief.

Doris was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Young Tuttle; and her sisters Lorraine “Pat” (Towle) Hostetler and Muriel (Towle) Nathan. She was deeply loved and survived by her sister Bonnie Jean (Towle) Mack; her daughter Nancy (Tuttle) and son-in-law Mark Hegg; daughter Beth (Tuttle) and son-in-law Mike Osborne; son Bert and daughter-in-law Loretta “Lora” Tuttle; and grandchildren Jens and Lea Anne Hegg, Stuart and Sydney Osborne, Clifton and Anthony “Tony” Tuttle; and great-grandchildren: Berlyn Hegg and Maggie, August and Willa Osborne.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 16, at Palouse Federated Church, 635 N. Bridge St., Palouse, with the Rev. Corey Laughary officiating.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Idaho Talking Book Service: libraries.idaho.gov/donations.

Kramer Funeral Home of Palouse is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at kramercares.com.