Cynthia Paulette Johnson Sutton

Cynthia J. Sutton, 70, originally from Atmore, Alabama, passed away at home with her beloved family, on Thursday, May 7, 2020 in Bluffton, South Carolina.  A memorial and celebration of her life is to be later announced.

She was born October 16, 1949 in Monroeville, Alabama, to the late John Quincy Johnson and Bessie Mae Knight Martin of Atmore, Alabama.

She was an active member of Central Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where she served as secretary and an engaged member of the trustee board; by way of Union Baptist Church of Chesterfield, Missouri, where she actively served as secretary and sang in the choir for 25 years.

Her journey began in 1969, when she graduated from Knoxville College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Minor in Sociology.  She completed her Master’s Degree in Special Education, from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, where she met her love and life partner, William Sutton.  They were united in marital bliss on, October 28, 1983, and spent 37 amazing and memorable years together.

As if teaching was not enough, she was also a devoted and proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; Gamma Mu Chapter of 1969; Knoxville College.  From there, she began her plight as an educator, where she humbly served for 42 years.  She concluded her journey in June of 2012, from the Kirkwood School District in Kirkwood, Missouri.  Teaching children was truly her passion and life’s purpose.  She did so, with such elegance and grace.  From this educational journey, she established an array of loving and lasting relationships with her students and peers, that she so cherished.  

Even in retirement, she could not leave her passion.  After relocating to Bluffton, South Carolina, she became a volunteer in the reading program for the Boys and Girls Club of Bluffton, South Carolina.  In addition, she was an active member and chaplain of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated’s, Hilton Head Island - Bluffton Alumnae Chapter.  Cynthia truly lived a life of service; to her family and community that she loved so much.

Surviving her, is her husband, William Sutton of 37 years; one daughter, Keely J’Nelle Sutton, of Hampton, Georgia; Three grand-children; Kala Jovan Sutton, of Savannah, Georgia; Amari Chanel Hurn, of Hampton, Georgia; and Nasir Khalil Sutton, of Hampton, Georgia; Two nephews, Eric (Cheryl) Collins, of Chicago, Illinois and Patrick Collins, of Indianapolis, Indiana; Two great nephews; Sean Collins, of Chicago, Illinois and Peter Collins, of Indianapolis, Indiana; and two great nieces; Brianna Collins, of Champaign, Illinois and Nena Collins Brown, of Charleston, South Carolina; as well as a host of family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents; Henry Lincoln Knight and Annie Elizabeth Clausell-Knight, of Monroeville, Alabama; her mother, Bessie Mae Knight Martin, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; her father, John Quincy Johnson; mother and father-in-law, Dorothy Boyce Sutton and Earl Steven Sutton, of Decatur, Illinois; her sister, Marva N. Collins, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; daughter, D’Arcy Nicole Rawls, of Chattanooga, Tennessee; and niece, Cynthia Beth Collins, of Chicago, Illinois.

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