Jean Griffey Tuttle

Jean Griffey Tuttle entered the arms of her loving Savior on Sunday, December 29, 2019 at the age of eighty-six.  Treasured daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend to many, she will be sorely missed.

A native Houstonian, born to the late Dr. Edward Waddy Griffey and May Bartlett Griffey on July 22, 1933, Jean attended River Oaks Elementary School, The Kinkaid School, The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, PA, and Bradford Junior College in Haverhill, MA.

The Griffey family lived on Troon Road in a beautiful home built in the early 1930s. Less than half a mile away from her home, a young Lee Tuttle was growing up on Inwood Drive. As fate would have it, some fifteen years later during Thanksgiving break, he was reintroduced to Jean on a train to New York City. And the rest, as they say, is history. In June 1954, Jean and Lee were married at the Church of St. John the Divine and remained devoted members of the Church.   

Jean was full of life and always had a song in her heart. Artistic, athletic, poetic. This was our super Momma and extraordinary Grandmomma Jeanie. From her time at Camp Arrowhead leading the Kickapoos to victory to her theatrical roles at the Junior League of Houston, she created big moments of fun and loved sharing music with others. The Tuttle living room on Chevy Chase was center stage for her children and grandchildren featuring impromptu ballets, piano concertos, Wizard of Oz choruses, and Beatlemania sing-alongs. The grandchildren proudly followed Jean’s lead by creating and directing memorable short plays at the River House along the banks of the Guadalupe River.

She also loved to garden and was a dedicated member of the Garden Club of Houston. She spent hours in the Small Bulb booth at the annual Bulb and Plant Mart and generously shared her knowledge with her friends and family. She especially loved traveling with her GCH friends on garden tours around the country.

She is survived by her four daughters Gwyn Tuttle Insani, Susan Tuttle Lummis (and her husband David Rice Lummis), Jennifer Tuttle Arnold, and Emily Tuttle Wilde (and her husband Carlton Dalbey Wilde, Jr.); twelve grandchildren Lauren Tuttle Laurent, Christopher Andrew Insani (and his wife Brittany Ann Insani), David Rice Lummis, Jr. (and his wife Paula Balbontin), Helen May Lummis, Gregory Lee Tuttle (and his wife Nicole Rodriguez-Fierro), Carlton Dalbey Wilde III (and his wife Jordan Jenkins Wilde), Lee Griffey Wilde (and her husband Robert Alan Buckwalter), Jeanie Arnold, David Buck Arnold, Adelaide Emily Lummis, William Tuttle Wilde, and Georgia Arnold; six great-grandsons Michael Lee Bryce Laurent, Michael Lynn Callahan Laurent, Michael Eugene Cash Laurent, Christopher Jayden Insani, Carlton Dalbey Wilde IV, and Raleigh Doyle Wilde; sister-in-law, Yvonne Tuttle Streit (and her husband, David R. Streit); and many nieces, nephews, and their children, and her life-long friend, Joan Lander Howard.

She was predeceased by her sister Gwyn Griffey, brother Earle Bartlett Griffey, M.D., son Lee Lyman Dewey Tuttle III (“Trey”), and her husband, the love of her life, Lee Lyman Dewey Tuttle, Jr. M.D.

Her family wishes to thank the nurses and staff at the Hallmark for many years of love and kindness and, more recently, the doctors and nurses at the Houston Hospice for their tender care in her final days. A celebration of Jean’s resurrection will be held at eleven o’clock in the morning on Saturday, February 15, 2020 at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church with the Rev. Reagan Cocke officiating.  A reception will follow.  For friends desiring, memorials may be directed for Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s research to The Methodist Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 4384, Houston, Texas 77210-4384.