John Oliver Sutton Sr.

John O. Sutton, Sr. was born October 4, 1939, to Clara Maxine Pool and Mason Oliver (Bill) Sutton in Woodville, TX. He joined an older sister, Delores. John spent his early years in Colmesneil, TX, but by school age, the young family of four had moved to Nacogdoches, where John graduated from Nacogdoches High School in the Class of 1957. During those years he was a proud member of the school's state champion basketball team, and an even more proud owner of a 1956 baby blue Chevy. He forged several lifelong friendships during those years.
In 1961 he received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Baylor University. At Baylor he was a member of the Tri-C fraternity. After graduation, John, along with his good friend Jerry Moorer, enlisted in the Air Force Reserves, and after completing basic training, continued to meet monthly service commitments for several years.
In 1965 John married Beverly Thomas, who would be his devoted life partner for the next 59 years. Together, they returned to Baylor where John earned his Juris Doctor in 1967. After graduation from law school, the couple returned to Nacogdoches where John practiced law for many years and where their four children were born and raised.
He was an active member of the Nacogdoches Boosters Club, the Rotary Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. He was part owner of Nacogdoches Abstract and Title Company, and he served in various community roles such as the city's Planning and Zoning Committee and Stephen F. Austin State University's Board of Regents.
Along with his community commitments, he was an active member of the First Baptist Church where he served as both deacon and church trustee, and where he received much encouragement and support.
Along with John's legal, civic, church, and immediate family responsibilities, he continued to work with and in support of the larger Sutton family who had come to Texas in the early 1920's from Louisiana into the Big Thicket area of East Texas as lumbermen. During World War II the family provided timber for the war effort and housed German prisoners for the government. After the war John's father, uncles and cousins continued to acquire land and timber, as well as, run sawmills, flooring mills, and retail outlets, and to develope business ties within the timber industry. He was always mindful of his extended family and proud and grateful for their deep roots in East Texas history.
Following John's retirement from the law, he and Beverly spent the final years of his life in Dallas and Tyler in order to be close to their adult children and grandchildren.
John was preceded in death by his youngest son, Thomas Mason Sutton (Tommy), who died of cancer at 38, and his parents Bill and Clara.
John is survived by his wife Beverly and his sister Delores, his children John Oliver Sutton Jr. and wife Amy, Susan Sutton Cox and husband Marcus, and James Neal Sutton and wife Cindy. John was the proud grandfather of six grandchildren: Katherine Davis and husband Matthew, James Sutton and wife Hannah, Rebekah Smith and husband Luke, Anna Gates, Brooks Sutton, and Millie Sutton; and two great-grandchildren; Parker and Graham Davis, as well as nieces Kalin Kendrick and Marcie Smith.
John was a true southern gentleman who was kind and courteous to all. He was a devoted companion to Beverly and a man of faith. John was an anchor to the family and a lover of peace, who was always generous with his time and resources.
He was a devoted son and model father with a life-long history of putting the interests of his family ahead of his own. He was most happy when surrounded by his family, and as one family member put it, "We always knew he was on our side." He will be greatly missed.
Graveside services for John will be held on Saturday, December 21, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. in Cathedral in the Pines Cemetery in Tyler. Visitation is scheduled from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 21, 2024, at Stewart Family Funeral Home in Tyler.
Donations in memory of John can be made out to Stephen F. Austin State University with the designation Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, P.O. Box 6092, Nacogdoches, Texas 75962 for the purpose of funding a forestry scholarship.