Will Nutter, chair of TREE Fund Board of Trustees, senior vice president and COO of Wright Service Corp., and incomparable friend to many of us, passed away September 16, 2021, after suffering injuries in a motorcycle accident.

Here, TREE Fund leaders offer memories of their friend and colleague.

Information regarding funeral services will be shared when it becomes available.

I have known Will for 20 years, dating from the time Wright Tree Service was awarded a vegetation management contract at PacifiCorp. From the beginning, I respected his leadership, integrity, professionalism and sound judgement.

When I was president of the Utility Arborist Association, I recruited him to become involved. He accepted enthusiastically, eventually becoming president where he skillfully presided over rapid growth and dedicated the association to promoting safety in the industry. When he completed his tenure, I spoke to him about joining the TREE Fund Board of Trustees. His response was, “Randy, that’s something I can get behind.” Of course he could.

He was a generous contributor to Tour des Trees riders, including me--dating from my first tour in 2013. Further, Wright Service Corp has long funded the TREE Fund’s John Wright Memorial Scholarship.

On the board, he characteristically committed himself to the organization's mission, and applied his considerable abilities to help navigate the TREE Fund through the difficulties of the COVID pandemic.

Will was also influential in my professional career, having been instrumental in my joining CNUC, a Wright Service Corporation Company.

At breakfast on the recent Tour des Trees, Tom Wolf observed that Will was “one of the good guys in the industry.” I agreed and added that while Will was someone who I had always held in high regard, now that I had worked with him, my admiration had grown.

Most importantly, Will enriched my life as well as that of so many others with his sincere appreciation for the humanity of everyone he met. He was a mentor, confidant, inspiration, and friend.

A life force for good has left the earth, and we are here worse for it.

Member and former Chair of the TREE Fund Board of Trustees

Director, Research and Development, CNUC

Whenever I come back from a real or virtual TREE Fund event, I always comment to my wife about what an honor it is for me to be part of an organization with such professionalism. That became even more true with Will at the helm. He engendered dedication, hard work, and just plain confidence that things wold get done. An incredibly valuable resource for us all.

George Hudler, PhD

Chair, TREE Fund Research and Education Committee

Cornell University

I don't know that there is anything more that I can say about Will that has not been said.

I first met Will as a contractor while working for Austin Energy. There, I found him to be an honest, forthright, and hardworking work associate. Over the years through my many encounters with Will at the UAA and the TREE Fund, I came to value him as a caring friend and confidant.

I will always remember the last time we met up for breakfast. It was in late May at the IHOP in Cedar Park,Texas. We spent several hours catching up on each other's families and Will was particularly excited about a house in Marble Falls, Texas that he and Cami had recently purchased. He said they intended to relocate in the near future. It would put them in a warmer climate for retirement with space for family gatherings and an outbuilding with plenty of area for Will's toys.

Mary Jo and I will truly miss Will and will continue to keep Cami and his family in our thoughts and prayers as they go through this difficult time of acclimation to life without Will.

Treasurer and Chair of TREE Fund Audit & Finance Committee

Austin Energy

It has been said that Will Nutter never met a stranger. This is true. Will had the innate ability to walk in the room and quickly connect with anyone he encountered.

Personally, I don’t believe I ever talked to Will about a tree or tree care – it was always about classic and muscle cars. Always a work in progress visiting about a car that he had or was going to get. Cars that I’ve had forever and where I am in process of getting them fixed up.

Steve Geist, RCA, BCMA, TRAQ

Member and former Chair of the TREE Fund Board of Trustees

Consulting Arborist, SavATree Consulting Group

Will was among the very best board members I ever worked for and with during my long career in the nonprofit sector.

He was passionate about the TREE Fund's mission, communicated it well, was an avid and successful fundraiser and a generous donor, and he fully understood and embraced the governance role of nonprofit trustees.

His commitment to the tree care industry and its professionals was unparalleled, and I know his service on numerous other boards and committees over the years allowed his expertise and perspective to deeply benefit the sector as a whole.

Will was also just a great guy, and we spent many hours chatting and laughing all around the country as our extensive travels brought us together in unexpected places, and also as neighbors in Des Moines, where our paths crossed regularly as we seemed to like eating at the same places and going to the same events.

He loved his work, he loved Wright Service Corp and his colleagues and customers there, and most of all he enthusiastically loved and was so very vocally proud of his family.

A true role-model in every sense of that phrase, a larger-than-life personality who lit up the spaces he moved through. I'm heartsick to lose him, and I wish Cami and their family all comfort and strength through the difficult days to come without him.

Former President and CEO

TREE Fund

As I collected the above memorials of Will offered by TREE Fund leaders, the grief I’d managed to suppress over the past few days re-emerged. I was searching for words to convey the profundity of the loss the TREE Fund family has suffered, but as I felt my spirit breaking one more time, I realized this sorrow and loss is deeper than that. An organizational response is insufficient.

Yes, he was an outstanding nonprofit leader as a trustee and an officer of the board. He understood the role of volunteer board members and carried it out with enthusiasm. He also understood and respected the role of nonprofit staff professionals and worked with us in our shared mission. His unfailing support of me as the TREE Fund president and CEO was essential, effective, and deeply appreciated. His generosity toward the TREE Fund was as reliable as it was remarkable.

But Will was much more than that.

In his presence, I sensed a greatness of spirit. He possessed an uncommon mix of strength, warmth, and humor. His character was defined by his compassion, pragmatism, and integrity. Our many lengthy conversations could range from specific work life matters to the broadest of real-life topics, but without fail his face lit up with joy the instant he spoke of his family. He was the kind of person I always hope to meet, the kind I’m forever glad I met, the kind I hope I am on my best days. 

It was and is an honor to have shared this era with him and counted him my friend. Will was an inspiration, and—in the hearts of so many of us--he will always be.

TREE Fund President and CEO