Marcella (Marcy) Pauline Eckberg Tuttle
“A Life Well-Lived”
Marcy Tuttle, who called Santa Barbara home for over 70 years, passed away peacefully on September 16, 2026, at the age of 95.
Born in Boone, Iowa, to Pearl and Herman Eckberg, Marcy grew up alongside extended family and her late brother, Dwain. After graduating from Boone High School—where she met her future husband, Arnold Tuttle—she moved west at 18 to attend Westmont College, graduating in 1953.
Always independent and adventurous, Marcy bicycled across Europe in her twenties. She was an elementary school teacher when she married Arnold on June 23, 1959, in Long Beach, California. The couple spent their first year of marriage traveling through Europe. Settling permanently in Santa Barbara in 1963, Marcy worked part-time in admissions at Santa Barbara City College and later managed Arnold’s business, Security Sign Co., after his passing. She loved swimming with her family at Samarkand during the oil spill that closed the beaches in the early ’70s and fondly remembered a month-long 1980 European road trip covering 13 countries and 5,000 miles in a Volkswagen Golf with Arnold and their children, Mark and Corinne.
Marcy cherished Santa Barbara’s ocean and foothill views, activities, and community. Passionate about music her entire life, and later, theater, she ushered for decades at the Lobero, Arlington, and Granada Theatres, and the Music Academy of the West, volunteering dedicatedly well into her nineties. When she broke her hip, while ushering, at the age of 90, her daughter had to cancel 40 ushering commitments that were scheduled over the next 30 days. She also played recorder with local ensembles at community gatherings and was a longtime member of First Presbyterian Church.
Kind, witty, independent, and curious, Marcy read a book a day until a month before her passing and walked up to three miles daily into her mid-90s. She delighted in visiting her son’s family in Vienna and her daughter’s family in Colorado. She lived by her grandmother’s favorite motto: “It’s a good life if you don’t weaken.”
Marcy was preceded in death by her husband, Arnold, and her brother, Dwain. She is survived by her children, Mark Tuttle and Corinne Tuttle-Dragten; her five grandchildren, Connor, Colin, Claire, Daniel, and Ella; and several nieces and nephews.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held Friday, October 9, at 3:00 p.m. in the chapel at First Presbyterian Church (21 E. Constance Ave., Santa Barbara), with a reception following. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Serenity House (930 Miramonte Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109).
