Jonathan G. Tuttle

1940 - 2024

Jonathan G. Tuttle

Shutesbury, MA - Jonathan G. Tuttle (83) of Shutesbury passed away on January 20, 2024 in Leeds at the home of his sister, Deb (Deborah L. Jacobs). Jonathan was a committed trade-union leader with a lifelong dedication to working families, as well as an ordained minister, an avid birder, and a voracious reader. He was a Cooley baby born in August of 1940 to Marjorie L. (Daniels) and Alden P. Tuttle Sr. of Amherst, both long deceased, as is his older brother Al, (Alden P Tuttle Jr.). Jonathan was educated in the Amherst public school system. He graduated from UMass Amherst in 1962 and 4 years later was awarded another BA, this time in Divinity and Ordination from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. While in Chicago he was (briefly) married, worked in a head shop, and was active in the street protest at the Democratic Convention. He also took part in the Civil Rights Movement and the movement to end the war in Vietnam. After returning to Amherst, Jonathan worked as Department Aide, Storeroom Helper, and Store Keeper at the University. His local union activities were as Steward, Chief Steward and President. He was a convener of Local 1776 Stewards Council. Beginning in 1986, and until he retired in 2007, he worked as a Western Region Field Staff Representative. He was active in the Hampshire Franklin Central Labor Council and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. His community service, both before and after he retired, included the Franklin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Rural Development Inc., the Shutesbury Democratic Town Committee, and the Massachusetts Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. For many years his summer vacations were spent salmon fishing in Canada, and then later, in the UK, at music and beer festivals where he would see his favorite rock and roll band, Fairport Convention, and drink traditionally brewed ale. He was active in CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and the Great British Beer Festival in London. Here in the states, he was instrumental in creating NERAX, (the New England Real Ale Exhibition) in Boston. Health constraints in his later years limited his activities, including working in his extensive gardens, but he remained a big man with a big heart. In addition to his sister Deb, Jonathan leaves his niece Zoë Jacobs Feinstein and her husband, Aaron Feinstein, of Northampton, along with dear friends Melena Bonnello and her husband, George Danziger, of Florence. A Memorial Service will be held to remember and honor his life at the First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ on Main Street in Amherst on June 1, 2024 at 2 pm with a reception at the church to follow.