Harold Eugene Sutton, 91, passed away Tuesday, September 3, 2024 at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of Lincoln, NE, from pneumonia complicated by COPD. In progressive hospital care for 11 days prior to his death, Harold died peacefully with family by his side.
He leaves his wife of 69 years, Jean; daughter Kim Sutton of Swansea, SC; son Kent (Diana) of Peru, NE; and 3 brothers Donald (Shirley) of Chanute, KS, Bill (Loretta) of Durham, KS and Dwayne (Barbara) of Alba, TX. He leaves behind 7 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents Sam and Ellen Sutton; brother Dwight Sutton; grandson Jonathan Sutton and great grandson Forrest Sutton.
Harold was born in Gypsum, Kansas, April 13, 1933, where he grew up second oldest of 5 sibling brothers. He learned to hunt and fish with their father Sam, and Harold was an excellent shot. In his older years he enjoyed competing in High School baseball and basketball. After graduating from Gypsum High School in 1951, he worked a short time at Union Pacific Railroad as a train locomotive fireman in Salina, Kansas. In 1955 he married his high school sweetheart, Jean Ellis, and they moved to various locations in north central Kansas to work in local hardware stores and lumberyards.
In 1963 Harold showed interest in becoming a machinist at Boeing Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas, where he trained to be a spar mill operator fabricating wing frame structures with aluminum. He achieved machinist certification within a 6 month period while working at Boeing. During his time as a machinist, he was recognized for achieving production goals with minimum scrap products, commendation for various machine improvements, and years of work with no personal safety accidents. In 1995, when he retired after 32 years of service, the Boeing Company also retired the specialized spar mills he operated, as he was the last machinist trained to operate them.
He learned carpentry skills from his youth and he used those skills to remodel and maintain the homes he owned and lived in. His wood shop included a mortise jig for tenon joints used to fabricate custom solid walnut door frames for home furniture projects. Many pieces of his custom made furniture are still in use today in the extended Sutton family. One such piece of furniture is a corner gun cabinet that is designed for displaying rifles, shotguns, and pistols and storing ammo.
In January 2019, after 29 years of retirement as resident of Kansas and then Texas, Harold moved to Nebraska to be close to his family. There he enjoyed frequent drop-in visits while in assisted living. He especially enjoyed holidays where he traveled to family homes for fellowship and food. It was during this time he was convicted to follow the Lord in baptism, and on 12/1 of 2019, at the age of 86, Harold was baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ at Millard Community Church in Omaha, NE.
“Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” Romans 6:4-5
Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. on Friday, September 13, at Ryan Mortuary, Salina, with family present from 6-8. The funeral service will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 14, at First Baptist Church of Gypsum, with burial to follow at Gypsum Valley Cemetery. For more thoughts and memories of Harold, there will time for open sharing at the luncheon in the Fellowship Hall after the graveside interment.
Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Gypsum, care of Ryan Mortuary.