ROBERT JAMES SUTTON


ROBERT JAMES SUTTON

GREENVILLE, NC - Robert James Sutton, 87, died Thursday, October 08, 2015.

A memorial service will be conducted Saturday, October 24, 2015, at 2 p.m. at St. James United Methodist Church. Private interment will be in Willowdale Cemetery in Goldsboro. There will be a reception for friends and family at Cypress Glen immediately following the service on October 24th.

Mr. Sutton, a native of Wayne County, was a 1945 graduate of Eastern Wayne High School. He served in the United States Army and received the Korean Service Medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars. In 1950, he received a BS in Agricultural Education from North Carolina State University and later received a Masters Degree in Education. He taught vocational agriculture at Edward Best High School and later was employed with the Franklin County Board of Education. He retired in 1985 from Lenoir Community College, where he taught and served as an administrator. After living in Carteret County for 10 years he made his home in Winterville and Greenville, where he was a member of St. James United Methodist Church.

Mr. Sutton was a member of the American Legion, the Golden Kiwanis Club of Greenville, and the Kinston Elks Lodge #740. He was also a member of the Carteret County Chapter of NCRGEA, where he served as president for several terms, and the NC Retired Governmental Employees Association in Carteret County. He served in numerous capacities in professional and civic organizations. He was a 1959 charter member of the Justice Volunteer Fire Department in Franklin County, where he was known as the "father of the fire department".

He was preceded in death by his parents, Hugh T. and Sallie Best Sutton; son, Robert James Sutton, Jr.; and a sister, Carolyn Sutton Etheridge.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Barbara Farmer Sutton; son, Anthony "Tony" Farmer Sutton and wife, Sherry, of South Bend, IN; and grandchildren, Kurt A. Sutton and wife, Karmen, of Bloomington, IN and Julia D. Sutton, of New Orleans, LA.

Memorials may be made to Lenoir County Community College, Robert James Sutton, Jr, Memorial Scholarship, PO Box 188, Kinston, NC 28502-0188.

Arrangements by Wilkerson Funeral Home & Crematory, Greenville.

Online condolences at www.wilkersonfuneralhome.com

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