There’s an empty seat in Kent County Levy Court chambers. One once occupied by a proud Kent County resident who dutifully attended meetings for more than a quarter of a century. A man who would stay until 2 a.m. if need be to hear the very last comment on a contentious vote or the briefest of workshop meetings to offer a few words of advice.

    When Phil Tuthill of Bowers Beach died Nov. 10 the county lost with him a resident who had dedicated his life to the betterment of the county.

    “For the last 25 years, he was like an unofficial member of our committee,” said Bill Holmes, chairman of the county’s Regional Planning Commission, who dedicated a moment of silence in Tuthill’s memory at the Nov. 13 RPC meeting. “He loved the county, he loved the ground, he loved everybody here. You might not always agree with him and he might not always agree with you, and he told you so. He was a great man.”

    Because of Tuthill’s dedication to the legislative process, Holmes had named him an ex-officio member of the RPC.

    “He was like the eighth member as far as I was concerned. He was a member of our commission and I will miss him very, very much,” said Holmes, who has served on the RPC since 1992. “He was always there no matter if it was a busy agenda or not and he always had something to offer. Whenever we asked for public comment he would always get up and say how he felt about things and I always admired him for that.”

    The county, for its part, flew flags at half-staff this past week in honor of Tuthill. Levy Court commissioners presented him with the Kent County Medal for Meritorious Service at its meeting Oct. 28, less than two weeks before his death.

    Reading the resolution that night, Commissioner Allan F. Angel referred to Tuthill “as the conscience of Levy Court by speaking out about land use issues and chiding commissioners to protect the interests of citizens.”

    Levy Court President P. Brooks Banta has served on Levy Court the longest at 12 years and before that served four years on RPC. Tuthill was a constant presence during that time, he said.

    “He brought a lot of professionalism to county government,” Banta said. “He’s one of the few people that came to every meeting and if he felt we were in error, he would always feel free to correct us and we respect that. And when we were right he always stood up and said, ‘By golly, you’re right.’

    “He was a gentleman. He always expressed not only his views, but the views of people who weren’t there. He is going to be sorely missed. There was only one Phil Tuthill.”

    The well-liked political gadfly and South Bowers Beach farmer who grew cabbage, corn and other local crops was a strong proponent of agricultural land preservation.

    He had served two terms as mayor of Bowers Beach in the late 1960s, was a member of the Farm Bureau, a lifetime member and past treasurer of the Bowers Beach Fire Co. and a member of the Murderkill Lions Club.

    A lifelong member of the Republican Party, Tuthill ran against Ruth Ann Minner in the 1970s for the 33rd District House of Representatives seat. His family noted in his obituary  that “he often said in amazement that his best friends happened to be Democrats.”

    His funeral was held Nov. 15 and Tuthill was interred in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery on South Governors Avenue.

    The family has requested donations in his name be made to the Beverley O. Tuthill Scholarship Fund, The Round Table Club of Wyoming-Camden, c/o Treasurer, 67 Cantwell Drive, Dover, DE 19904; or the Ira R. Tuthill Memorial Fund, The Presbyterian Church of Dover, 54 S. State St., Dover, DE 19901-7312.

     Email Melissa K. Steele at melissa.steele@doverpost.com