TUTON, GARY AND GLENDA (ROSS)

by Gary D. Tuton

Entry F429 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Gary and Glenda Tuton

Children of Gary and Glenda Tuton 1968, Jeff (age 10), Lori (age 4),
David (age 8)

Gary and Glenda (Ross) were both born
and grew up in Keya Paha, Co., Nebr. Both
attended and graduated from Keya Paha Co.
High School in Springview. They were united
in marriage at the Methodist Church in
Springview on August 26, 1956. Rev. Curtis
Norlin, a former pastor in the Mullen Meth-
odist Church, performed the wedding cere-
mony.

Both Gary and Glenda took normal train-
ing classes while in high school which provid-
ed the basic background for becoming an
elementary teacher. Shortly after their
marriage and honeymoon, a teaching vacancy
occurred in the Springview Elementary
School. Glenda was contacted to see if she
would fill the vacancy and teach grades five
and six. A contract was signed and Glenda
moved back with her parents in Springview
where she lived during the week while
teaching and Gary lived with his parents near
Mills while teaching in a rural school. More
time was spent apart during their first year
of marriage than together. In the spring of
1957, Gary signed a contract to teach grades
7 and 8 in Springview and a home was rented
there where they lived for the next three
years. Glenda resigned from her job due to
the forthcoming birth of their first child,
Jeffrey Lee, who was born at the Ainsworth
hospital on January 25, 1958. On July 6, 1959,
their second son, David Allen, was born, also
in Ainsworth.

In the spring of 1960 Gary resigned from
his teaching position in Springview and the
family moved to Chadron where he enrolled
in college full time - graduating with a BS
Degree in Elementary Education in the
summer of 1961.

During the spring of 1961, Hugh Pursel
(then Supt. of Schools in Mullen) contacted
Gary about coming to Mullen to teach. Mr.
Pursel had been superintendent at
Springview while both Gary and Glenda were
attending high school. A contract was signed
and the family moved to Mullen in August of
1961. The original intent was to stay in a
small school system for a couple of years and
then move to a larger and more prestigious
position. Things didn't work out that way.
After a couple of years in Mullen it was
decided that the search for another system
could be put off a bit longer. The community
was growing on them. It was a great place for
the boys to grow up. The Loup River north
of town was an excellent place for them to fish
and explore. Keys could be left in the car all
of the time without fear of theft. The house
was never locked. Involvement in community
activities was increasing. Mullen was home!

October 23, 1963, was a special date in the
family history as well as for the Mullen
Hospital, Dr. Saults, and a lot of individuals.
On that date their daughter, Lori Ann, was
born. The event, in itself, wasn't unusual as
a number of babies were born in the Mullen
Hospital. This event was more noteworthy
due to the fact that it was decided after Lori's
birth that Gary should go into the delivery
room with Glenda until she was taken back
to her hospital room. He had only been in the
delivery room a few minutes when he began
to feel extremely warm and short of breath.
Turning to walk out, he fainted and fell face
first on the tile floor, cutting his chin open
from one side to the other. Glenda was
wheeled from the delivery room and Gary was
helped onto the delivery table where seven
stitches were taken in his chin to close the
wound. News travels fast in a small town. Few
people asked what had happened when they
saw the stitches. They just smiled!

When Lori started to Kindergarten,
Glenda began working in the school lunch
program and continued in that capacity for
twelve years. She then spent three years
working as a teacher's aide. One of her true
loves was books. She always had an armload
of books from the Hooker co. Library at
home. She also worked at the library for a
number of years as part-time librarian. After
a five year battle with cancer, Glenda passed
away on Oct. 10, 1985, and is buried in
Cedarview Cemetery in Mullen.

All three children graduated from the
Mullen Public School System and have gone
on to further their educations. Jeff spent four
years in the Air Force specializing in electron-
ics both through Air Force schooling and
college classes. He currently lives in Mesa,
AZ. and is head of an electronics department
with Triumph Electronics in Phoenix. David
graduated from Kearney State College, re-
ceived a degree in respiratory therapy from
Immanuel Hospital in Omaha, and finally a
Physician's Assistant Degree from the Uni-
versity Medical School in Omaha in August
of 1985. He and his wife (formerly Yvonne
Urbom from Lexington, NE) live in Phoenix
where David works as a Physician's Assistant
and his wife is an assistant manager at an
Embassy Suite Hometel. Lori also graduated
from Immanuel Hospital in Omaha and is a
licensed respiratory therapist. She is current-
ly completing her BS Degree in biology at
UNO in Omaha while working part time as
a respiratory therapist.

Gary continues to live in Mullen where he
serves as elementary principal - a position
which he has held for all but one year since
coming to Mullen in 1961.