Joseph Gene Tuttoilmondo

Joseph Gene Tuttoilmondo

Sept. 8, 1945 – Oct. 25, 2021

Our dear friend, Joe, left us one day last October, succumbing to the pernicious effects of pulmonary disease. Joe was preceded in death by his parents Peter Tuttoilmondo, and Rose (Pullara) Tuttoilmondo. While a native of Colorado, Joe spent virtually all his adult life in his adopted state of New Mexico. Joe came to love New Mexico after attending the University of Albuquerque back in 1968. After graduating with a degree in elementary education, he was hired by APS and taught enthusiastically for 29 years. Because few of his students could pronounce his name, they knew him as “Mr. T.” He was much beloved by his students and maintained contact with many of his former students throughout his career, and for years after retirement.

Joe’s creative mind manifested itself especially in the classroom in a variety of ways. For example, at Easter time, to ensure that all his students would have the opportunity to experience an Easter egg hunt, he would inform his class at the beginning of the day, that they had been visited by the Easter Frog and that it had left Easter treats hidden throughout the room. He even had little frog prints leading to the classroom as part of the adventure. He was a fountain of knowledge and creativity, not only in the classroom, but also in his day-to-day interaction with friends and acquaintances.

Joe was multifaceted in his interests, many of which he shared with his students. He was enchanted with space exploration and followed closely all the space missions, from the early days in the 1960’s through all of the space shuttle flights. He was most honored by counting astronaut Mike Mullane and family among his friends. He enjoyed the outdoors and eagerly sought out opportunities to hunt and fish throughout New Mexico with his friends. He had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge – particularly about Native American and Hispanic history in New Mexico.