Gerald Ralph Tarutis

Prominent Seattle attorney and exponent of legal rights, Gerald R. Tarutis, Esq., died February 28, 2021 six hours after a tragic fall at his home. To his many friends, he was a raconteur, purveyor of fine dining and good wine, with an infectious laugh. He will be missed.
The son of the late Ralph and Martha (White) Tarutis, Gerry attended North Carroll High School in Hampstead, Md. His high school year book said his goal in life was to become a successful lawyer. So, he did.

After receiving his J.D. from the University of Maryland, he joined the Peace Corps as a legal counselor stationed in Liberia, West Africa. After his return from the Peace Corps in 1971, Gerry passed the bars in both Washington State and Georgia and was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Georgia, he was the Managing Attorney of its Legal Services Program and helped bring the seminal disabled children's' civil rights class action of J.R. and J.L. v. Parham. In the late 1970s in Washington State, he first served as Litigation Coordinator for Evergreen Legal Services, providing overall statewide support for various advocates and task forces on housing and public benefits.

He practiced health law for the past 50 years, most recently with Tarutis Legal Solutions, the Seattle-based law firm he founded. At the time of his death, Gerry also held leadership positions with the American Bar Association and Washington State Bar Association.
A man many looked to for guidance, Gerry was a long time member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Seattle and served on the Board of NAMI-national for whom he testified to Congress on SSI equity and medical parity for people with mental illness. For nearly two decades he was a Board Member of the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating legal barriers to the timely and effective treatment for people who have severe mental illness.

He is survived by his loving son Mark Tarutis, a student in Portland, Oregon, and his sister, Sandra Martin Dalgarno of Maryland. Due to COVID, a memorial is not planned. Good night, Gerry, a life well lived.