Worthy Page Tuttle

Worthy Page Tuttle died peacefully at her home in Whitefish on Sept. 19.

Worthy was born Nov. 21, 1946 in Cincinnati, the beloved only child of Walter and Betty Tuttle. She went to the Hillsdale School in Cincinnati, graduating in 1964. She studied at Boston University and later graduated from American University in Washington D.C. with a degree in Spanish.

She was a woman of many talents and interests. During her college years, Worthy volunteered for the Frontier Nursing Service in southeastern Kentucky, became a certified Montessori teacher, and upon graduating from university became a social worker for the city of Cincinnati.

After earning her master’s from University of Cincinnati, she became a community organizer. Worthy was also an excellent photographer and flutist, and spent time living with a family in Morelia, Mexico, where she became fluent in Spanish.

She married Samuel (Bo) Trufant, a high school teacher in Cincinnati, in 1971. Not long after her graduation, they quit their jobs, sold their possessions, and together travelled to India going overland across Europe and the Middle East.

They eventually settled in the international community of Auroville, near Madras in South India. While there, they obtained jobs teaching at Kodai Kanal School in the nearby Nilgiri hills.

Worthy recorded everything they saw in a series of amazing black and white photographs, and as a flutist studied the Indian flute with a master. When their jobs finally came to an end, they travelled to Auckland, New Zealand, where they lived and worked for some time and had their first child, Seth.

In 1974, Worthy and Bo moved back to the U.S., bought some land, and began building their home near Harbor Springs, Mich. Worthy truly embodied feminism both professionally and at home. One of her first jobs in northern Michigan was as director of the Drug Awareness Center. During these years, she was fundamental in the creation of the Women’s Resource Center in nearby Petoskey, Mich., and also a weekly women’s support group that continues to meet today.

Their daughter, Amelie, was born in 1977. Worthy was a supportive and loving mother known for her homemade applesauce and French bread, and yet continued to set an example as a working mother.

After further graduate work toward a PhD at the University of Cincinnati, she became a dedicated social worker and counselor throughout northern Michigan.

Worthy moved back to Cincinnati and eventually to Whitefish to spend more time with her children and grandchildren.

Worthy was an intelligent and kind soul who walked gently upon this earth. Her generosity and compassion for others will remain an inspiration. She was an adoring mother and grandmother, and she will be dearly missed by all who loved her.

Worthy is survived by her daughter, Amelie, and son-in-law Jason, and their children Toby and Elsie; and by her son, Seth, and daughter-in-law Kelly, and their sons Sam and Harry.

A memorial service will be held at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Women’s Resource Center in Petoskey, Michigan, the American Cancer Society or your local hospice.