Richard Paul Sutter, 82, of Morgantown, passed away Friday, Sept. 20, 2019, at his home surrounded by his
family.
He was born on March 22, 1937, and spent most of his childhood in Strongsville, Ohio, on small farm with his father, Paul Frederick Sutter, his mother, Ethel Pavlik Sutter, younger brother, David Henry Sutter, and grandmother, Susie Dojcar Pavlik.
He learned thrifty ways from his Swiss grandparents, Henry Edward Sutter and Mary Katherine Kaul, on the Sutter Family Farm founded in the 1850s in Crestline, Ohio, (all deceased).
As a young man, he joined the St. Joseph’s Seminary to become a priest. He left the seminary with the idea of becoming a scientist to show there was no contradiction between science and religion.
He pursued this goal graduating from St. Joseph College, getting a master’s degree from Ohio State and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Tufts University in Boston.
He became an adjunct biochemist at Presbyterian St Luke’s Hospital in Chicago before coming to West Virginia University in 1976.
As a professor, Richard pursued his research studying Sex Hormones in Fungus Phycomyces working many summers at Cold Spring Harbor Research center with Nobel Laureate Max Delbruch. He published research papers in Proceedings of National Academy and other major journals. All this work he did in the name of science, seldom taking any personal credit.
Richard enjoyed teaching. He spent long hours developing a well-liked Freshman Biology Course for which he wrote individual letters to each student getting an A and included his favorite quotations. He was selected for the Who’s Who among America’s Teachers.
But Richard’s first love was his family. He was devoted to his wife, Kathleen Lonergan Sutter, and his three children, Jennifer Sutter Jones, Paul George Sutter with wife, Miki Suto Sutter, and David William Sutter. In his quiet way, he shepherded his family being a model of honesty and hard work. He delighted in hiking to the tops of mountains and playing with the children in West Virginia streams. He liked a big campfire.
His grandchildren were a great joy to him, Lauren Michelle Jones, Colin Thomas Jones, William Tyler Jones and Jasper Dax Sutter. His great-grandchildren, Andrew Henry Dequasie and Thomas Arthur Dequasie played cards and baked for him to brighten his recent days with Parkinson’s.
Richard never forgot his early spiritual goals. He wrote an editorial for The Dominion Post “Creation, evolution can co-exist — quite nicely,” 2005.
He prized that as much as his scientific publications. He worked at Christian Help organizing the Food Pantry, so every order had needed nutrients. He gathered the food students left at the end of semester and collected leftover pastries at Panera to wrap for pantry.
Richard seldom talked about his Christian faith, but he was a man of prayer who lived it.
A funeral service will be at Trinity Episcopal Church, 247 Willey St., Morgantown, with the Rev. E. F. Michael Morgan, Ph.D., Fr. Kirk Haas and Fr. Richard Harme at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28. Family will greet friends before the service at 10 a.m. Friends are invited to gather in Strader Hall after service. Burial will be at 1 p.m. at Eden Cemetery.
Friends may join family in making a donation to Christian Help, 219 Walnut St., Morgantown, WV 26505 for the food pantry in Richard’s name.
