Nelson honors retiring councilman

After serving for 20 years as a member of the Nelson City Council, Chuck Tuttle has retired from the town board. He attended his last meeting as a councilman last Wednesday. Before leaving the meeting he was presented a certificate noting his many years of service.

And Tuttle does have a long record of public service.

He joined the United States Air Force in 1960 and continued serving with the Air Force into the 1970s. His association with the Air Force took him to many places. In 1961 he was stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa. In 1962 he was sent to Viet Nam and served in that country for more than year before returning to the States in 1963. In August of 1965, he was assigned to the Hann Air Base in Germany. After three years in Germany he returned to the States for an assignment at Warner Robbins Air Base in Georgia. In July of 1969 he was sent to Thailand. It was in Thailand that he was involved in a helicopter crash,

Returning to the States in 1970, he was stationed at Vandenburg Air Base in California for two years. In 1972, he began work with the Air Force Recruiting Service at Pierre, South Dakota. That was his last Air Force assignment before retiring.

Chuck was born in Geddes, South Dakota, and was graduated from high school there in 1959. He was married from 1963 to 1973 and the Tuttles had three children during those years. He married DeAnna in 1981 and moved to Blair, Nebraska. There he happily adopted DeAnna's two children.

While living in Blair, he worked for Dana College, learned the locksmith trade and went into business for himself.

While working as a locksmith, he developed an interest in law enforcement. His first law enforcement job was with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. He attended the Nebraska Law Enforcement Academy at Grand Island in 1983 and graduated with honors. From 1986 to 1989, he served as the Fort Calhoun chief of police.

He joined the Nuckolls County Sheriff's staff in 1989 and continued full-time with that department until retiring from the department in August of 2003.

But the sheriff's department didn't keep him busy. He continued his locksmith business and had other interests.

When the Tuttles moved to Nuckolls County, they purchased an old Victorian home in Superior at Seventh and Dakota which had been modified to house five apartments. They began an extensive remodelling and repair project which returned the house back to a one-family dwelling.

In 1996, they sold their Superior home and bought a house that had been constructed in Nelson in 1912. Once again they were in the remodelling and repair business. That structure has served as their home since.

After retiring from the Nuckolls County Sheriff's Department in 2023, Chuck he was a part-time officer with the Superior Police Department and transported prisoners for Nuckolls County and provided Nuckolls County with courtroom security until 2016. During this time he also helped at the Elk Creek Country Club located at the south edge of Nelson.

He currently is serving on the Salem Lutheran Church council. He expects to complete his fifth term on the church council and retire from that position in January.

He has been active with the Nelson American Legion Post. With the Legion he served two years as post commander, county commander for three years, district vice commander for two years, and is currently serving as District 10 commander. He was one more year on his present district commander's term.

As a member of the Nelson City Council, he has held the council president's position and served at times as acting mayor. He also served for more than 20 years as a member of the Nelson Volunteer Fire Department and driver for the Nelson Volunteer Rescue Squad.