Obituary of Carol Ann Ridenhour Tuttle

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At home surrounded by her loving family, Carol Ann Ridenhour Tuttle, 80, of Roanoke, VA, went to be with the Lord December 1, 2017.

Carol is survived by her husband of 60 years Gene Tuttle, three sons, Keith, Kevin, and Timothy and wife Gina, grandchildren, Timothy Tuttle, Jr., Tara Saunders and her husband Michael, and soon to be great grandchild Theodore Saunders, sister Jean Ridenhour, brother Jim Ridenhour and wife Cathy, her dog Luke and cat Eli.

Preceding her in death were her parents Elmer and Helen Ridenhour and brother Richard Ridenhour.

Carol was an advocate for music in her early years prior to being married and having a family. Her Father Elmer created Ridenhour Music in Salem, VA. Growing up in her early teens, Carol, and her brother James were Elmers grunts in his music studio. They cleaned and painted the studio as well as helped with staging equipment for recitals. During that period, Carol learned to play several instruments to include the Acoustic and Electric Steel Guitar, Accordion and Ukulele. She entered into the International Music League to perform with concert bands playing the Accordion. After performing in the concert bands, Carol became an instructor at Ridenhour School of Music teaching all instruments. Everything she learned spread to her children with Keith learning to play the bass guitar, Kevin learning to play the piano and keyboard and Timothy learning to play the drums.

Carol loved to go camping with Gene, family and their friends in their RV at Claytor Lake in Virginia, North Myrtle Beach in SC and Florida for about 10 years. Gene and Carol were dedicated members of the Roanoke Moose Lodge 284 for about 10 years and joined a men's and women’s bowling league with their friends at Allstar lanes in the early 1990’s for a couple of years.

Carol was employed at Allstate as an underwriter for 34 years. She was a member of Green Ridge Baptist Church for 14 years and an active member of Southview United Methodist Church for 20 years where she was a member of the Sonshine Gang Ministry. The Sonshine Gang filled the lives of seniors at local nursing homes with fun filled music, antics and most of all the joy of Christ. She loved music and singing in the choirs at both churches. Carol touched countless lives with her beautiful voice, enduring smile and joyous laugh and exhibited the Christian principles of Love, Kindness, Patience and Faithfulness to her family and friends. She lived a full life in dedication to the service of others.

Carol was a dedicated wife and mother. She spent her days making sure the men of her family wanted for nothing. While pursuing her career at Allstate, she made breakfast, lunch and dinner for her men and kept the house and laundry clean. She dragged the boys into Church at Greenridge and routinely went to choir practice as her main ministry at both churches. Carol never faltered when raising her children even through adulthood. She was there for every success and failure even during the years of sickness and up to her passing. Carol exemplified a Christ like character when helping her boys through tough times even on her final day of consciousness she was comforting us by singing you are my Sonshine.

A special Thank you to Gentle Shepherd Hospice for their dedication to the care provided for Carol and her family during the hospice period. The personal touch of the owners and the many nurses involved helped ease the burden associated with the passing of Carol.

The family will receive friends 2:00 to 4:00pm and 6:00 to 8:00pm, Thursday, December 7,2017 at Simpson Funeral Home and Crematory on Peters Creek Rd. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to Southview UMC or a charity of your choice.

A celebration of her life will take place at 11am, Friday, December 8, 2017 at Southview United Methodist Church on Peters Creek Rd by Pastor Warren Carswell.