Stellar career ends at ECC

Don Tuttle's 87-year-old body is ready for retirement.

His mind isn't.

"Astronomy is really a way of life. I don't want to retire, but there comes a time when you have to," Tuttle said.

The eccentric and beloved Elgin Community College astronomy professor will retire this month after 48 years of teaching.

Tuttle's cosmic career has encompassed the Space Race of the 1960s, the Cold War and most recently Pluto's demotion to a dwarf planet.

"Astronomy is entirely different these days in terms of knowledge and technology and students," he said.

In Tuttle's early days at ECC, scientists weren't yet sure the moon was solid.

"When (Neil Armstrong) landed on the moon, that's when we knew," he said.

The days of the moon program and the space race helped make astronomy especially electrifying to teach.

"The thing that was so different than now was that everybody's mind was up there. Consequently, it's a lot easier to teach students when they're already excited about something first."

In the 1960s and 1970s, the astronomy department had no computers or even calculators to use. "Students used to use mathematics and slide rules," he said.

Before ECC had a planetarium, Tuttle taught classes at the U-46 observatory on Raymond Street in Elgin. The annual Christmas program he organized provided some of his fondest memories.

"The program allowed me to combine geography and literature with astronomy," he said. "It had a little bit of everything."

Some 15 years ago, Tuttle retired for the "first time." It didn't stick.

Though he went back to teaching rather quickly, Tuttle began quilting with the goal of having a quilt on display in every state. Now 48 states boast Tuttle's quilts. He also translates old church documents from German to English. For fun.

At ECC, a quilt of the periodic table hangs in the chemistry department.

"I did it mainly because the head of the chemistry department said there was something that was needed for that wall," he said.

Dec. 31 will be Tuttle's last official day as an ECC astronomy professor. But, like his first retirement, the school can guarantee it won't be seeing the last of him.

Next semester, he's volunteered to teach an Astronomy for Fun course in the non-credit department.

"They're not paying me for it … but anything new could happen. I want to be around," he said.