Dr. Samuel James Tuthill

DR. SAMUEL JAMES TUTHILL

DeWitt

Dr. Samuel James Tuthill, 93, passed away Aug. 28, 2019, at Wheatland Manor.

He was born in San Diego, Sept. 6, 1925, to the late Nancy (Morgan) and Marvin Tuthill. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Sam is a graduate of Drew, Syracuse and North Dakota Universities.

He specialized in the paleoecology of glacial deposits in western North Dakota, Minnesota and south-central Alaska. Sam researched the effects of the great Alaskan earthquake of 1964.

Dr. Tuthill taught geology at Muskingum College in Ohio and served as state geologist and director of the Iowa Geological Survey. He was a science advisor to the Secretary of Interior, Energy Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce, and was appointed to the President's Energy Resources Council. From 1977 to 1987, Sam held positions at Iowa Electric Light and Power Company in Cedar Rapids. From 1988 until retirement in the mid-90s, he managed Tuthill, Inc., a geological-hydrological and environmental consulting business at Marengo, Iowa, with his son John.

In retirement, Sam enjoyed a home on Devil Track Lake in northern Minnesota. He received the Drew University Outstanding Alumnus Award in Science and the University of North Dakota A. G. Leonard Medal in Geology. Sam and Constance Huntington Howell were married Sept. 7, 1952, in Boonton, N.J.

She survives along with a daughter, Susan (Jeff) Gimprich, Dumont, N.J.; sons, James (Evelyn) Tuthill, Laramie, Wyo., and John (Michele) Tuthill, DeWitt; five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; sisters, Mary Youtsey, Winchester, Calif., and Nancy Petersen, Friday Harbor, Wash.

He also was preceded in death by a grandchild.

Visitation is from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, at Schultz Funeral Home, DeWitt, with services at 11 a.m. Saturday at the United Methodist Church, DeWitt.

A complete obituary may be viewed at www.schultzfuneralhomes.com.