Bennett Warburton Sutton

SUTTON

BENNETT WARBURTON SUTTON

Bennett "Ben" Warburton Sutton passed away on Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Arlington, Virginia, after a two-year fight with lung cancer. Ben was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1973 to Richard and Ginny (Morris) Sutton and grew up in northern Virginia. He graduated from Madison High School in Vienna, VA in 1991 and earned his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Mary Washington in 1995 and his master's degree in economics from George Washington University in 1999. He was a Senior Research Officer for the International Monetary Fund, where he had worked and cultivated a global network of friends and colleagues since 1999. With many of his colleagues, he shared a passion for world affairs, following and engaging in cheerful debate about current events.



Ben made his home in Arlington with his wife, Bethany Zecher Sutton, whom he met when they were undergraduate students at Mary Washington. He introduced her to family summer vacations in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and she took him to the mountains and lakes of New England. Together they introduced their children, Luna and Cara, to domestic and world travel. Ben's passion for travel took him from a post-college internship in Budapest to personal and business travel in Europe, Canada, the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Mexico, Panama, South America, and across the US. As a traveler, Ben loved to explore neighborhoods on foot to get a true sense of a place and its people.



His international interests were manifested in his love of cooking and soccer. He always brought family, colleagues, and friends together with passion for World Cup soccer and developed an enthusiasm for weekly badminton games in the atrium at the IMF and in his backyard.



In addition to his wife, children, and parents, Ben is survived by his brothers, Alex (Beth), Marshall (Debi), and Sam (Jill); his mother-in-law, Sonja Zecher; his sisters- and brothers-in-law Carla, Conrad (Kris), Nadine (Dan), and Derek (Ann); 14 nieces and nephews; and many dear and lifelong friends.



A Celebration of his Life will be held May 6, at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. Charitable contributions to honor Ben's memory can be made to the Arlington Community Foundation for the Bennett Sutton Memorial Fund. Contributions by check may be mailed to: Arlington Community Foundation, 4601 N Fairfax Drive, #1050, Arlington, VA 22203. Please specify Bennett Sutton Memorial Fund on the memo line.