Obituary template 4 of 6
Veteran
Gives military service its own section, with branch, rank, years and era, and the honors at the service.
- Who it is for
- Anyone who served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force, National Guard, Reserves or Merchant Marine, whether for two years or thirty.
- Tone
- Respectful and plain. Service is told as part of a whole life.
- Length
- About 250 to 450 words
In loving memory
Raymond Earl Tuttle
“Ray”
1946 – January 19, 2026
Rochester, MN
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Raymond Earl Tuttle, 79, of Rochester, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, died at home on January 19, 2026.
Ray was born in 1946 in Austin, Minnesota, and was drafted in 1966, a month after he finished a welding course. He served as a Specialist 5 with an artillery battalion in the Central Highlands from 1967 to 1968. He did not talk much about the war. What he did talk about was the cook from Georgia who taught him to play spades, and who he wrote to every Christmas for fifty years.
Home again, Ray welded for a farm-equipment maker for 33 years and built half the trailers in Olmsted County on the side. He married Carol Lindgren in 1970. They raised two sons and a long line of beagles, each one named after a country singer.
He was a life member of VFW Post 1215, where he organized the Memorial Day breakfast for twenty years and never once let anyone else flip the pancakes. He drove veterans to their VA appointments in Minneapolis every Thursday until he was 77.
Ray is survived by his wife, Carol; his sons, Jeff (Angie) Tuttle and Brian Tuttle; four grandchildren; and his sister, Marlene (Dick) Holm. He was preceded in death by his parents, Earl and Hazel Tuttle, and his brother, Donald.
A funeral will be held Monday, January 26, at 11 a.m. at Zumbro Lutheran Church, with visitation an hour before. Burial with military honors will follow at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Memorials are preferred to VFW Post 1215 or to Honor Flight.
What Ray loved
Dogs
Cards and puzzles
Volunteering
In honor of service
U.S. Army
Specialist 4 · 1966–1968 · Vietnam
With gratitude for Ray’s service to the nation.
Raymond Earl Tuttle is invented. The sample shows the tone and shape of the template; your obituary is built from your own answers.
Try it in another style
Any template works in any style. You can switch before or after you publish.
Engraving, this sample
Watercolor
Quiet
Write yours with the Veteran template
Free, with no ads on the page. You can switch templates and styles at any time before or after you publish.