MHS Class of 1964 Classmate News
OBITUARY: Chuck Sutton - 80 Years
Charles L. Sutton |
7/6/28 - 12/13/08 |
Charles Lester Sutton Towards the end of World War II, Chuck early enlisted in the U.S. Army. Following graduation from Irvington High School, then boot camp, he was selected for the ceremonial detachment of the 3rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Meyer, Va. He served in the Honor Guard, assisted with military chapel services and also played on the post basketball team. Basketball brought Chuck to Idaho as a point guard at North Idaho College, and a fellow student, Joanne Smock, kept him here. After his graduation, they married and moved to Moscow, where he worked at the Moscow Hotel while attending the University of Idaho and earned a B.S. in education. Then Chuck started a 35-year career with the Moscow School District, first serving as a biology teacher, football, basketball and track coach and reintroducing baseball to Moscow High School. In the summer, he worked in school maintenance that included painting cartoon characters on the school buses. He earned an M.S. in biological sciences as a National Science Foundation Scholar. After a stint as athletic director, Chuck moved to Moscow Junior High School as principal. He also taught hundreds of Moscow students to drive. During this time, he received his doctorate in education as a Ford Foundation Fellow and did his post-doctorate work with the Institute for the Development of Educational Activities. At the request of the school board and community, Chuck left his beloved Junior High School and concluded his career as Superintendent of Schools. He received numerous local, state and national awards for excellence during his long tenure. Chuck’s retirement years were spent in community and church service, traveling and enjoying the arts, his home, garden and family. Chuck leaves behind his wife of 56 years, Joanne, and children Donna Alice and William Woolston, Charles Lester III and Sandra Sutton, Kevin Andrew and Ligia Sutton, Richard William Sutton and Neil McDevitt, and his faithful companion, Reggie. Grandchildren are Ashley Lee and Michael Campsie, Christopher Charles and April Sutton, Amber Dawn Saunders, Sarah Jo Elizabeth Kendall, Alexandra Grace Kendall, Adam Raymond Charles Hunst, Malik Haxton-Sutton, Edgar Charles Sutton, Joseph Andrew Sutton and Johnathan Charles Sutton. Great-grandchildren are Cameron, Olivia, Chloe and Jasper. He was preceded in death by his parents and grandson, Jacob Andrew Sutton. In lieu of flowers, during the penitential season of advent, he will best be remembered through his memorials. They are the Charles Sutton Scholarship to benefit Latah County students attending North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene or the Charles Sutton Memorial Arboretum Fund at the University of Idaho Condolences may be left at an online guestbook at www.shortsfuneralchapel.net. |
Charles Lester “Chuck” Sutton came into this world on July 6, 1928, and passed on to the next on Dec. 13, 2008. He was the only child of Charles Lester Sutton Sr. and Alice Naylor Sutton and grew up on the playing fields and ocean shores of his native New Jersey.