John Lutz

1939 - 2025

John Lutz

White River Junction, VT - John Lutz, 86, died peacefully on October 16, 2025, surrounded by the love of his family and with the supportive care of hospice and the staff at Valley Terrace in White River Junction.

He was born June 6, 1939, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, the youngest of five children of Clarence and Ruth (Herr) Lutz. John spent his childhood in a home, enriched with books and music, across from the Klein Chocolate Factory and playing baseball with the neighborhood children. At the age of 18, he left his Mennonite community and moved to Hanover, New Hampshire to serve two years as an orderly at Mary Hitchcock Hospital as a conscientious objector. Several years later, that experience led him, and his wife, Ruth, to make the decision to move to the Upper Valley permanently to raise their family.

John learned the printing trade from others before establishing his own print shop, Imperial Printers, in Hartford Village. After selling that business he moved on to oversee College Printing at Dartmouth College, then supervised Dartmouth's personal computing center. He used his creativity and computer knowledge to teach desktop publishing courses around the country before being asked to come in to assist True Basic through its business transition. John served as a lay pastor at Taftsville Mennonite Chapel in Taftsville, Vermont for ten years. A lifelong stamp collector, John, was part of several area stamp clubs and worked to develop the annual stamp show held in the Upper Valley.

After retirement, John and Ruth moved to Randolph, Vermont to be closer to their family. They immersed themselves in the community with John volunteering with RACDC, Gifford Medical Center, and several town committees as well as taking an active role in Bethany Church. For years, he and Ruth mowed the section of grass from the top of Elm Street down to the intersection that has now become a small park. John's lesser-known volunteer time came at his daughter and son-in-law's dairy farm in Randolph Center where he patiently repaired stalls, stacked hay bales and did whatever he could to offer support.

John was a kind and generous man. He loved his family deeply and his natural curiosity extended to whatever his family did or found interesting. He felt that showing kindness was always the best answer and his interest in people and willingness to share time and resources extended to a wide circle of people and organizations. John's verbal nimbleness and sense of humor made him an engaging and effective teacher. He loved to sing, and his beautiful tenor voice could be heard leading and blending with the groups of singers he taught and with whom he sang.

John is survived by his wife of 62 years, Ruth, his son, David Lutz, of Strafford, Vermont, his daughter, Regina Beidler, and her husband, Brent, of Braintree, Vermont, and his granddaughter, Erin Beidler, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A private family burial is planned for November 8th followed by a drop in reception for the community from 1-3 pm at the Esther Mesh Room at Chandler Music Hall in Randolph, VT. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Gifford Medical Center. The Day Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.