By the family

Sept. 21, 2023: After a long struggle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, James Sutton, 78, died peacefully at home on September 18th.

Born in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and raised in Madison, New Jersey, Jim led an active life dedicated to volunteerism and community service.

After he moved to Bronxville in the early 80s, Jim became particularly interested in caring for our natural surroundings. He organized the annual spring clean-up called Pitch in for Parks, served on the Bronxville Beautification Committee, chaired as Executive Director of The Bronx River Parkway Reservation Conservancy, cut down choking vines in the winter with the Vine Cutters, and taught Boy Scout troops how to become stewards of the parkland. He also enjoyed frequent trips kayaking down the Bronx River all the way to the Bronx Zoo and beyond.

Jim loved to walk and ride his bike around Westchester County, especially on the Old Putnam Trail and the Bronx River Parkway on Bicycle Sundays. He not only delighted in walking the Croton Aqueduct along the Hudson, but every April on Opening Day he took his ritual walk from Bronxville down to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. It took him five hours as he liked to stop now and then for a cup of coffee.

He often biked in the city and in the winter, he skated after work in Rockefeller Plaza before catching the train home.

Jim earned a BA from Sewanee, The University of the South, and an MBA from Fordham.

He worked as a Trust and Estates Officer for several financial institutions including Chemical Bank, Comerica Bank, Bank of New York, and the local Barclays Bank in Bronxville right next to the train station.

For a while he served as treasurer on the vestry at Christ Church.

During Vietnam he was stationed in Guam as a Major in Air Force Intelligence, and for 20 years he put in his time in the Air Force Reserves.

Other than Westchester County, Jim’s two favorite places were Manhattan, where he acted in The Amateur Comedy Club, a 139 year-old theatrical men’s troupe, and New Hampshire, where he owned the 219 year-old house where he had spent memorable summers as a child with his family.

Jim was a tall and handsome man with a great sense of humor. He loved his family and was very generous to his friends.

He is survived by his wife, Katherine Day Sutton, his son Gardiner (Alina), two granddaughters (Evelyna and Emelya Sutton), and his sister, Mimi Sutton Hanzel.

The family has planned a private service and burial. In lieu of flowers, they ask that a donation be made in his honor to the Bronx River Parkway Reservation Conservancy, 81 Pondfield Road, Suite D277, Bronxville, NY 10708.