Tyler Rugg Sturdevant Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Tyler Rugg Sturdevant, 91, of Sun City Center, FL, passed away Monday, November 4, 2019, with family at his bedside. He was born in a log cabin at the Grand Canyon, AZ, on June 5, 1928, to Glen Sturdevant and Eileen Fourcade Sturdevant, where his father was the first geologist and Park Naturalist at Grand Canyon National Park. Tragically, his father drowned in the Colorado River when Tyler was just 8 months old. Tyler graduated from junior college at New Mexico Military Institute in 1947. He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of California Berkeley in Agriculture in 1950, and a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics in 1952. While at UC Berkeley, he met Roberta J. Schoening, who he married on June 21, 1952. He is survived by children Dean (Cathy), Kenosha, WI, David (Izabel) Royal Palm Beach, FL, and Gail Kenefake (Scott), Davidson, NC. He was predeceased by his wife Roberta, of Sun City Center, a son, Robert, Boring, OR, and his brother, Glen Sturdevant, Paradise, CA. He is survived by eleven grandchildren: Kiara Green (Jason Hawkinson), Hartford, WI, Shevonne Hueman (Matt Martinez), Newport News, VA, Benjamin Sturdevant (Robin), Bordentown, NJ, Jason Sturdevant (Barbara), Kalama, WA, Katie Rabe (Sam), Corvallis, OR, Samuel Sturdevant (Alicia), Colorado Springs, CO, Mary Kenefake, London, UK, Stephen Sturdevant, Bordentown, NJ, William Kenefake (Anna Zimmerman), Boston, MA, Victoria Sturdevant, Vernon Hills, IL, and Isaac Sturdevant, Kenosha, WI. He is also survived by eight great-grandchildren. He received a commission in the US Navy in 1952. During the Korean War, he served aboard ships as a Supply Officer. He was discharged in 1955 but stayed in the Active Reserves, retiring in 1976 as Lieutenant Commander. Upon discharge from active duty from the Navy, he was employed in Berkeley, California as an Agricultural Economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, transferring to Sacramento as a Statistician in 1960 and working with the Crop and Livestock Reporting Service. In 1964, he was awarded a one-year scholarship to Iowa State University, where he completed the equivalence of a master’s degree in Mathematical Statistics in 1965 and transferred to Washington, D.C.’s USDA office of the Statistical Reporting Service. During the next two years, Ty worked in Objective Yield research and Remote Sensing studies. In 1967, he accepted an assignment to Lahore, Pakistan to work with the U.S. Bureau of the Census team on agricultural statistics areas and helped direct Pakistan’s Agricultural Census. In 1972, Ty moved to the Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland, and became Chief of the Business Statistics Division. As Division Chief, he became a charter member of Senior Executive Services. In 1981, Ty retired from federal service and went into financial planning, becoming a Certified Financial Planner. In 1984, he accepted a position as a Resident Coordinator in Cairo, Egypt as a faculty member of the University of Maryland. In 1989, he accepted a five-year assignment as a reemployed annuitant by the Bureau of the Census, beginning with three years in the Philippines, followed by two years in Saudi Arabia. In 1994 he moved to Sun City Center, where he served a term as President of the Men’s Club and, with his wife, joined the Security Patrol. He became active in sports, playing golf six days a week, tennis three days, and roller blade skating ten miles each Sunday. In addition, Ty participated in the Senior Games, specializing in 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter dashes, winning numerous medals at the regional and State Championship levels. He began scuba diving while in the Philippines, and also later added swimming to his list of frequent athletic activities. In 2004, they moved to Freedom Plaza in Sun City Center, where Ty was elected to the Residents’ Administrative Council, serving as Secretary and President. He was elected as a Director of the Retired Officers’ Corporation. Ty also served on the Board of Directors of Freedom Plaza Scholarship Fund, Inc. During his life, he and his wife traveled to all seven continents, including an expedition to Antarctica. He was a member of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Sun City Center, FL, and served as an elder and clerk of session during his life. Tyler and Roberta will be laid to rest together at the historic Pioneer Cemetery in the Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Grand Canyon Conservancy, https://give.grandcanyon.org/page/48555/donate/ or to the Parkinson’s Foundation, https://www.parkinson.org/, or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, https://www.michaeljfox.org/donate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tyler Rugg Sturdevant

June 5, 1928 - November 4, 2019

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