Orlando, FL – John Paul Sutton, 84, of Orlando, Fla., formerly of Hively and Maysel, Clay County, passed away Sunday, November 3, 2013.
Born April 11, 1929, on the old Sutton Farm in Big Otter, he was the son of the late Ernest Sutton and Louise Davis Sutton. He attended school at Hively until 1941.
In 1946 he moved to Charleston and began working at the West Virginia Brick Company, before being drafted in 1951 into the United States Army. He served two years in the Army and was honorably discharged in 1953 before re-enlisting in 1955.
He served for 24 years in the Army protecting his nation honorably abroad in Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Germany, as well as at home in Hawaii, Alaska and other bases across the United States.
After retiring from the Army in 1976, he moved to Orlando with his wife, Mary Bailey Sutton, whom he married in 1955. Mary Passed away in 1991 after a long illness.
While his passion was his military service to America, he went to work restoring and renovating airplanes in Florida. His hobbies included wood-turning and furniture making, which showcased his gifted talents and earned him respect among his friends in the professions’ social clubs, to which he also belonged. He also enjoyed returning home frequently to the Mountain State for family reunions and for family hunting and fishing trips.
In addition to his parents and his wife, he was preceded in death by his sisters, Elsie Mollohan, Mary Hanshaw, Clara Shreve and Margaret Osborne, and his brothers, Orville Sutton and Asa Sutton. He is survived by his sister, Willa Williams of Stow, Ohio, and his partner of 22 years, Emma Lou Patitucci of Orlando, Fla., along with his loving granddaughter, Julie Patitucci of Orlando, Fla., and many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, who will miss him dearly.
Service was 11 a.m. Friday, November 8, 2013 at Richard M. Roach Funeral Home, Gassaway with Pastor Roger Dunlap officiating. Burial with military rites were in the Hively Cemetery, Wallback.
Friends called from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Condolences may be extended to the family at www.roachfuneralhome.com Arrangements by Richard M. Roach Funeral Home, Gassaway.
