It is with great sorrow that our family announces the passing of Frank Gordon Tuthill, known as Gordon, very peacefully in his sleep while on hospice care on Nov. 13th, 2023.

The eldest of nine children, Gordon was born in Randolph, VT to Mae Flint and Glendon Tuthill.

Gordon spent his childhood years moving frequently, most often living in the Woodstock area where he graduated in 1946. Gordon very proudly co-captained the first-ever Woodstock football squad in 1944 under the coaching of Wendell Cameron. The team went undefeated.

The USDA's soil conservation team, who he worked with as a junior in high school, paid off as well. One of his first jobs was to define the boundaries between two lease parcels of land in Pomfret, at the request of Selectboard Chair, Hewitt Moore. Woodstock attorney, Betty Sherburne, asked Gordon to do a title search, and this led to multiple requests for title searches from Woodstock attorneys from 1945-1957.

It was also a junior at Woodstock Union High School, while working for the soil conservation service of the U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA), that Gordon's surveying career began. On one job while taking photos of a farm in Windsor County to identify the boundaries, he noticed a number of parallel lines north to south, and that is when he realized that there must be a plan.

This fascination with property lines led to an amazing career in surveying, deed research, tax mapping, and more that spanned eight decades. In 2009, Gordon received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the League of Historical Societies annual meeting for  his numerous contributions to the Woodstock area through his years of research and mapping.

In 1957, Gordon resigned from the USDA, took a job with Gratiot Engineering (owned by

Pomfret resident, Peter Gratiot) and began doing actual surveying work. Gordon helped Gratiot start a forest management service and in 1959 separated from the company and ran that service independently. In 1970, he received his surveyor's license when the state began requiring licensure in that field. By 1972, he was running his own surveying company but also handed the company over to his employees this same year. Bruno Associates was a result of this. Gordon continued to take on small jobs and title research for Bruno Associates and John, Jerry and Gordon remained lifelong friends.

In 1965, Gordon became a licensed real estate broker and credits his successes to longtime friends, Polly Hamilton and Marilyn Spaulding, whom he thought the world of.

In 2000, Gordon started working with the Graphic Indexing System and began parcel mapping for towns throughout VT, beginning with the full parcel mapping of six towns, including Underhill and Alburg, VT. Gordon went on to research over eighty different towns working with Town Clerks across the State of Vermont. In the early days, the clerk's offices were often in their homes where he was offered coffee, a meal, and extended conversation and often lifelong friendships. Gordon has amassed a vast collection of maps, deeds and documents dating back to the 1700's and has arranged a database that makes it easier for lay people to research the history of a property, the ownership and boundary changes. One of these databases can be located at the Woodstock Historical Society.

Gordon's states his two biggest accomplishments were through his extensive deed research that settled a large court case between the Butler family of Killington and the Killington Cooperation who claimed to own a portion of the Butler property. Gordon was able to settle another case in 1970 in West Woodstock where a lumber company claimed rights to fifty acres that they did not own. In both cases, Gordon was able to successfully help the landowner prove their titles. He always said, "There is an old saying that possession is nine tenths of the law. The other tenth is title." This same topic earned Gordon widespread notoriety in this area and was often called on to assist in many other court cases involving land and road issues.

Gordon was a licensed civil engineer, without any formal college mind you. He held a private pilot's license as well. With that, he took the doors off of a plane and flew over the forest fire in New Hampshire so he could get some good pictures. The folks at the White River airport were not too impressed.

Gordon was a walking historian who traveled the state hiking property lines, helping folks find ancestorial home sites, and researching town histories. Right up to his passing at 95 years old, you would find him at his computer analyzing the cursive writing of our ancestors of the 1700-1800's. Who will be able to do this when we no longer teach cursive writing? His knowledge of Vermont's history, its highway history, as well as its railroads, was by far more accurate than any modern book you will read. He was a walking library, and now another important library has closed. At 92 years old, (with Robert Kirby) Gordon was able to publish his first book chronicling the early history of Bridgewater, Vermont 1741-1791.

Gordon lived on his own terms and passed away on his own terms. Determined never to be disabled and determined to pass away alone, never wanting anyone to see him suffer as he had seen while caring for his longtime companion, Charlotte.

Gordon leaves his ex-wife and most cherished mother to his eleven children, Ruth Frary

Tuthill. His children, Bruce (Diana), Andy (Marcia), Jim (Margaret), Sue (Mike), Phil (Rhona), Greg (Shelly), Cynthia (Bob), Sandy (Carl), Doug (Tina), Sara (Jim), and Mary. Gordon was blessed as well with twenty-four grandchildren, thirty-three great grandchildren, four great, great, grandchildren and eight step grand/great grandchildren.

The family wishes to thank his son, Gregory, and his daughter, Sandra, for their care and companionship over these last few years, the rides throughout the state, and his sharing the history of the many properties they passed by. That is where he was at peace, and we are all sure that helped extend his life.

There will be a celebration of life for Gordon on June 30, 2024 from 1-4pm at the Pomfret Town Hall in Pomfret VT.