Monday, March 15, 2004

Nov. 14, 1949-March 6, 2004

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Stephen Gene Tuller died March 6, 2004, at his home in Las Vegas, Nev., following a year long lung cancer illness.

 

He was born on Nov. 14, 1949, in McCook to Delman H. and Miriam (Phillips) Tuller.

 

Stephen was baptized as an infant in the Catholic church and later as a youth in the Baptist church. He grew up in McCook and attended McCook grade schools and was a 1967 graduate of McCook High School.

 

He attended Kearney State College and was a graduate of Mid-Plains Vo-Tech School in North Platte in 1972.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power Submarine Program in June 1972 and spent the next 20 years in dedicated service to his country. For the last 10 years he was an employee of the U.S. Post Office Department and was a mail carrier in Las Vegas at the time his cancer illness began.

 

Stephen married Agnes Victoria Wagner on June 21, 1969, at St. Patrick's Church in McCook. One daughter, Angela Lea, was born to this union Dec. 22, 1973. The marriage ended in 1975.

 

On Aug. 4, 1977, Stephen married Jennie H. Donaldson in the Ashley River Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., and added two step-sons to his family, Jeffery and Kevin Donaldson.

 

Survivors include his widow, Jennie of the home; his daughter, Angela Maynew of Reno, Nev.; two step-sons, Jeffery Donaldson of Palm Springs, Calif., and Kevin and wife, Emily Donaldson of Asheville, N.C.; his mother, Miriam Tuller of Hays; a sister, Barbara Debolt and husband, Leonard of Ellis, Kan.; two grandchildren, Alex Andrea and Blake Maynew; four step-grandchildren, Gabriella and Liam Donaldson and Quinn and Lilly Donaldson; two uncles, Rex Waterman of Santa Ana, Calif., and Charles Wagner of Churchill, Tenn.; and other relatives that include nephews and cousins.

 

He was preceded in death by his father, Delman H. Tuller in 1976; his grandparents, Hardy and Irene Phillips from McCook and Milton D. and Anna Tuller from Lebanon; a step-grandfather, George Kettering from McCook; two uncles, Dane Tuller from Cambridge and Douglas Tuller from Willard, Mo.; two aunts, Mildredge Grafton from Clearlake, Calif., and Jessie Waterman from Santa Ana, Calif.; and two cousins, Randy Tuller and Garrett Wagner.

 

His body was cremated and a private family service was held at a later date when his ashes were taken to Charleston, S.C., and scattered in the ocean that was his home for 20 years.