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Patricia Ann Tuttle

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Patricia Ann (Bjerkaas) Tuttle, loving mother, grandmother, sister, friend, and community member, passed away on July 31, 2022.

Patricia (Pat) was born on April 19, 1938, to parents Philip and Muriel (Vangstad) Bjerkaas, in a farmhouse in Osakis, Minn. She grew up in rural Minnesota and also lived for a time in Arizona and Montana. In 1956, she graduated from Eagle Bend High School in Eagle Bend, Minn. Pat worked in Minneapolis before moving to Aurora, N.Y., where she became a secretary at Wells College. There, she met her beloved husband, Roy Tuttle, through her future sister-in-law, Jeanne. They married in 1961, having their first child, Loren, in 1962.

Pat became a business partner with Roy in his construction company, forming Ropat Enterprises. In raising their children, Pat instilled the importance of familial connection, building a sense of extended family, including everyone from great grandparents to second cousins.

In addition to her work as a mother and wife, and her role in Ropat Enterprises, Pat was an active member of her community. During her life, she created a number of “second families” through her ability to build long-lasting connections with those around her. In her faith, she was an active member of the Presbyterian Church, and Presbyterian Women. In 1981, Pat co-led a conference in Syracuse, N.Y. to celebrate 20 years of women in ministry. She served on a number of local and national church governing bodies, including her own church session, presbytery, and synod. When Pat and Roy settled in Fountain Hills for their retirement, they continued forming long-lasting and important friendships with those around them. For example, Pat was a founding member of the Bible Babes study group in Fountain Hills.

Pat was also a longtime member of Rotary International. Having supported Rotary for years, she became a Rotarian as soon as women were allowed to become members. In 1997, she became a charter member of the Four Peaks Rotary Club in Fountain Hills and would continue to be an active member, just this year celebrating the club’s 25th anniversary. While still in New York, she hosted eight exchange students through the Rotary Youth Exchange. She maintained connections with these students long after they left her home, including a friendship with her first student from Melbourne, Australia, with whom she kept in close contact for the rest of her life.

Partially through these connections and Rotary, she and Roy traveled the world together, visiting everywhere from Norway to China and Russia to Australia, where they returned many times.

Pat was preceded in death by her father and mother; husband, Roy; and brother, Richard Dean Bjerkaas. She is survived by her children, Loren Tuttle of Seattle, Wash., Beth (Gary) Maschoff of Woodbury, Minn., and Lynn Tuttle (Leslie Linn) of Sterling, Va.; grandchildren, Landon and Peterson Linn; siblings, Ruth (Ron) Jelinek of Prescott Valley, Ariz., Audrey (Doug) Suker of Edina, Minn., and Myron (Cindy) Bjerkaas of Alexandria, Minn.; sister-in-law, Sharon Bjerkaas of Rochester, Minn.; and an extended family of friends in the Fountain Hills area.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, at Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church in Fountain Hills. The service will be streamed for those unable to attend in person. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to The Rotary Foundation or the Presbyterian Church of Fountain Hills.