Edward Wike Sutton

Dr. Edward Wike Sutton, of Fresno, CA, died September 20, 2008, in the Sequoyah Cardiac Surgery Hospital, Redwood City, CA, due to complications following heart bypass surgery. He was born in Sylva, NC, March 16, 1935, and spent his early years in Cullowhee, NC. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph Coleman and Eddie Marie Wike Suttton Duckett and stepfather Edgar James Duckett.
He is survived by his wife, Sharon; two sons, Dr. Edward Coleman Sutton and his family, Kristen, Nicolas and Andrew; also Christopher Scott Sutton, his wife Julie and "the apple of his eye", Cayla Elyse Sutton, granddaughter, all of Fresno. Other survivors include his sister, Dr. Sara S. Madison and her husband, Dr. James A. Madison of Sylva; his nephews, Mark Montogmery, wife Lynne, grandnieces, Lindsey and Haley of Woodstock, GA and Timothy Montgomery of Montgomery, AL, also Tim's stepdaughter, Krystle of Asheville; and a special friend Claudia Cannady of Chapel Hill. Other survivors include 25 first cousins, and many close friends.
He attended Cullowhee Elementary School and graduated from Cullowhee High School in 1953 as valedictorian of his class. He was active in sports in high school, playing basketball and baseball for Cullowhee. He played football for Sylva High School the one year the N.C. High School Athletic Association sanctioned players from other schools in the county could play for Sylva. This Sylva team, coached by Joe Hunt, won the 1952 Smoky Mountain Football Championship. He was one of the eight first undergraduate Morehead Scholars at the University of North Carolina in 1953, where he lettered in three sports: basketball, football and track. He played for two years on the team that eventually won the NCAA Basketball Championship of 1957. He ran track for three years, and played football for three years, and still holds the record of 6.9 yards per carry. He played in three post-season games: the Blue-Gray game, the Senior Bowl and the College All-Star Game. In 1956-57, he was the first recipient of the William Prouty North Carolina Scholar-Athlete Award and an Academic All-American his senior year in football under Coach Jim Tatum. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, served on the Honor Council and was a member of the Gorgon Head Lodge, the Old Well and the Golden Fleece.
In the fall of 1956, he was drafted by the Washington redskins and was accepted to UNC-CH Medical School, McGill University Medical School in Canada and the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis, TN. He played out his senior year of eligibility in football at UNC and graduated from there in 1957. He then entered UT Medical School since he could attend two quarters, withdraw for two quarters to play professional football, continuing this policy until graduating from medial school in 1962. During this time, he played three years for the Washington Redskins, one year for the New York Giants and one year for the 1961 Green Bay Packers World Championship team coached by Vince Lombardi.
He did his internship in Santa Barbara (CA) Cottage Hospital in 1962-63. Then he went into general practice with Dr. Harlan Goldwater in 1964 in Gardena, CA. In 1966 he was drafted into the Army Medical Corps and sent to Vietnam, where he served in a M.A.S.H. unit and the was transferred to Saigon as the chief of the out-patient clinic at the 17th Field Hospital. For his second year, he served in Japan in an orthopedic surgery hospital. Returning to the states in May 1968, he resumed his practice for 10 more years in Gardena. He relocated to Fresno in 1978 as a quarter partner in the Fresno Industrial Medical Group, which he ultimately purchased, renaming it the Valley Industrial and Family Medical Group. During his early years in Fresno, he completed an intensive residency in Industrial Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco Medical School Ultimately, the Valley Industrial and Family Medical Group would expand into 11 clinics throughout the state of California, which were totally or partially owned by Dr. Sutton. He retired in 2006. For a number of years, he served as president of the San Joaquin Valley NFL Alumni Association in Fresno, where he was instrumental in organizing MFL Charity Golf Events, raising thousands of dollars for children. He served on the NFL Alumni Board of Directors for several terms. In 1982, he was inducted into the Western North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, Asheville; in 1993 to the inaugural Jackson County Athletic Hall of Fame, Sylva; and in 1999 into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, Raleigh. In 1999, he was the recipient of the NFL Alumnit Career Achievement Award, presented in Orlando, FL. A book entitled "Tales of the Comet, the fast-paced life of Ed Sutton as told to Bob Terrell" is being published at this moment.
Following cremation, part of his ashes will be spread near his vacation home at Avila Beach, CA and later in October, the remainder of his ashes will be buried with his parents in Sylva.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2008, 2:00 p.m. at Cullowhee United Methodist Church.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to your favorite charity or to the National Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA, 22312, Indicate name of person donation is in honor of, name and person to be notified of your gift and name and address of donor.
Condolences may be sent to Mrs. Edward Sutton, 7471 N. Van Ness, Fresno, CA 93711 or to Dr. Sara Madison, 1092 Kitchens Branch Rd., Sylva, NC 28779.