Alice Robinson "Tutta" Colquitt

Colquitt, Alice Robinson "Tutta"

Alice Robinson "Tutta" Colquitt passed away peacefully in the early hours of December 26, 2014. She was born on March 7, 1922 in Cataumet MA, one of six children of General Joseph Robinson and Simone Gabrielle Gaujot Robinson. Her father was a career army officer who met her mother in Paris after World War I. As an "army brat" she lived in many different places through her childhood, from Panama to Paris, graduating from Ashley Hall in Charleston, SC. She started college in Leavenworth, KS but had to drop out to help the family when her mother died at an early age. She enrolled at the University of Texas when her father was transferred to Galveston, and it was at the officer's club where she met the love of her life, Rawlins Colquitt, then a dashing 2nd Lieutenant. They were married on December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor. After the war was over, her husband decided to make the military his career, so she continued her peripatetic life, and together they raised five children. She was active with community and hospital volunteer work, and she was the always the one in charge of the frequent family moves. In 1966 her husband, "the Colonel" retired from the military and they relocated to Syracuse, NY. After a couple of years, Tutta joined the workforce, first in real estate, and then in banking. She worked for Merchants Bank for many years, rising from teller ranks to vice president, and completing a degree in banking. In 1984, Tutta and her husband moved to Ithaca, which was to become her home for the next three decades. After only one year, she became widowed, but her spirit of community and family involvement persisted. She volunteered with the Cayuga Medical Auxiliary, serving as its president, and also served on the board of Cayuga Medical Center for nine years. She was an active member of St Catherine of Siena parish, visiting the sick at the hospital and the homebound at Brookdale. She had many friends from St. Catherines, the Ithaca Garden Club and her bridge groups. She was an enthusiastic and intrepid traveler. Tutta was always the life of the party, known for her independence, her spunk and her extensive shoe collection. In her later years, she lived at Longview, and then at Clare Bridge for the last year of her life. She is predeceased by her parents, her two brothers, and her husband of 43 years. "Honey," as she was known as by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, is survived by her children, Joseph (Joan) Colquitt, Katy, TX, Susan (Frank) Piliero, Ithaca, Sarah (Harry) Barfoot, Upper Makefield, PA, Gabrielle (Mark) Colquitt-Roberts, Charleston, SC, and Peter (Kelly) Colquitt, Upper Grandview, NY; grandchildren, Kimberley Colquitt, Fayetteville, NC, Marisa (Tom) LaFalce, Ithaca, Michael (Kris) Piliero, Brooklyn, NY, Matthew Piliero, NY, NY, Peter Barfoot, Newtown, PA, Emily Barfoot, NY, NY, Caillian Colquitt, Charleston, SC, Roxane and Maggie Colquitt, Upper Grandview, NY; and several great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, December 29, at 11:30 a.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Catherine of Siena Church or the charity of one's choice