By Norma Dittman
Review staff writer
With a gentle smile, Carroll Tutt acknowledged that, yes, indeed, he will mark his 101st birthday on Thursday, October 31st.
He was born in Ellsborough Township, Murray County, MN. The son of John and Christine Tutt, Carroll was one of seven children. His siblings were Art, Earl, John, Fred, Mary and Irene.
Carroll attended Country School District 102 where his mother was the teacher. “I went until I graduated from high school. I passed my Minnesota examination and got my diploma from Murray County. I went on to train so that I could perform teachers duties, but I never did teach,” Carroll said. “My dad needed me on the farm. I wasn’t drafted, either, because dad was elderly and the draft board chose to let me remain at home to help with the farm work.”
Some of the duties on the farm that Carroll had performed as a young boy were those of herding and chasing cows. “Doing that and helping with chores always kept one busy,” Carroll recalled.
At the age of twenty-eight years, Carroll married Florence. Their wedding took place at the Ellsborough Township Church on August 2, 1947. “We were both from Ellsborough Township. We went together for a long time before we married,” Florence stated.
Florence was born on May 15, 1926. She, too, went to the country school, and then graduated from Ruthton. “I had one year of normal school training and I taught school for four years,” Florence said.
When Carroll and Florence married, they moved into a home built by Carroll’s dad, John. Their union was blessed with four children: Cathy, Carolyn, Jim and Kimberly.
Their lives, Carroll said, were typical farm lives. “We had a lot of dairy cows and we stuck to dairy.”
Planting, harvesting, chores, milking and caring for livestock took up most of their hours. Carroll said it was Florence’s job to scrub the milk bulk tank after it was installed in one of the barns on the farm.
Even though the farm work kept them very busy, Carroll took time to sit on the board for Murray County Soil Conservation. He was also very active in Murray County 4-H, and was on their church board, as well as very active in church activities.
Florence was a 4-H leader and also very involved in church activities.
They raised a large garden and Florence very much enjoyed her flower garden. So did Carroll. In fact, Florence once told Carroll, “Don’t buy me roses. You plant the roses bushes that I love so much. That’s enough.”
“We did have sixteen rose bushes on the farm,” Carroll stated, smiling.
Of all of the chores on the farm, Carroll’s very favorite job was that of haying. As he talked about getting together with his brother and neighbors for doing the haying, Carroll smiled at the memories. “I really did enjoy putting up hay. We had a rack hoist that would lift the bales into the barn. Dad installed an overhead track with pulleys. We would pull the bales into the hay mow and then pull a trip rope and dump the whole lot of it. Neighbors would work with neighbors and we would go to one another’s farms for haying. We each had our own job and we knew what to do.”
Carroll’s line of machinery for farming and caring for the animals was all International Harvester. “We were pretty much IH for tractors and basically every other piece of equipment. They were just easier to repair and served us well,” Carroll recalled.
Chopping silage was another job on the farm that Carroll said he really didn’t mind. “We’d dump it on piles and then pack it with the tractor. Then we put up two Harvestore silos.”
As the years passed by, Carroll and Florence moved into Slayton and son, Jim, took over the farming operation. While living on the farm, they didn’t take too much time to socialize due to all of the busyness of the farm work.
“But, when we moved into Slayton, I told Carroll that we needed to get more involved in areas where we could meet other people,” Florence said. “We went to the meal site and began meeting others. We now have several good friends because of that.”
Carroll and Florence moved to Maple Lawn Senior Care last year. “We just couldn’t do everything for ourselves, anymore, and the kids said that it was time.”
When Carroll was asked about being a centenarian plus one year, he replied, “Did you know that my mother lived to be 107?” “She had three sisters who lived to be way over 100, also,” Florence added. Smiling and patting Carroll’s hand, she said, “He’s from a good background.”
Besides having four children, the Tutt’s are grandparents to four, as well as great-grandparents to four. “We have two great-grandchildren in Sioux Falls and two great-grandchildren on the farm. Our grandson purchased our house on the farm and lives there. His dad continues to farm the land,” Florence explained.
“We are so happy with our family. We love them so much, and we are so happy that they love one another,” Florence stated. “The Lord has always been an important member of our family, leading us each step of the way. He’s always provided for everything. Carroll is a wonderful blessing that He put in my life. Carroll has always been so sweet and so very kind. I wouldn’t trade him or the life we have had for anything.”
That said, Carroll looked over at his wife of 72 years, gave her a sweet smile and a nod of his head – love for her shining in his eyes.
When asked how he will celebrate his 101st birthday, Carroll thoughtfully said, “I’m sure the children will come, and the grandchildren and their children.”
Although this birthday celebration will be a bit more “quiet” then some in years past, Carroll is looking forward to the day. An explanation about a “quiet” birthday, brought about a quick response of “sometimes we were harvesting on my birthday.” But the twinkle in his eyes told of other memories. When asked what he was thinking about, he grinned and said, “Sometimes on Halloween we were probably out lining up machinery on the top of the neighbor’s roof!”
Oh!!! Halloween and birthday fun!
Happy 101st Birthday, Carroll!
