Edward Colmery “Mullethead” Sutton ’47

Edward Colmery “Mullethead” Sutton ’47 of Burlington, N.C., died Feb. 16, 2007. Ed’s college career was interrupted by Pearl Harbor, and he enlisted in the Army. He fought in Europe with the 63rd Infantry Division, and his citations include various medals and ribbons including the Bronze Star. In 1951, Ed received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, after which he moved to Rockingham, N.C., where he practiced family medicine from 1953 to 1960. He then did a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Bowman Gray Medical School, where he also received the Outstanding Teaching Award in 1961. In 1963, he moved to Burlington, N.C., and practiced ob/gyn until 1989, stamping out considerable disease and delivering more than 5,000 babies. Although “officially” retired, Ed continued to work as a physician at the Elon University Student Health Clinic and the Yanceyville Public Health Clinic in the mid-to-late ’90s. During this time, Ed also entertained numerous medical associations and organizations as “The Medical Humorist”—by sharing the humorous experiences he had making house calls in rural North Carolina. His appointments, honors and awards are numerous. Among them: Fellow, American College of Ob/Gyn, 1965–2007; Chairman, Davidson College Annual Fund, 1973, Davidson College Alumni Service Award in 1982, 1947 Class Secretary since 1963; Young Man of the Year, Rockingham, N.C., 1958; Chief, Ob/Gyn Department, Memorial Hospital of Alamance County, 1979–81; Chairman, North Carolina Medical Society, Ob/Gyn Section, 1979–80; President, N.C. Ob/Gyn Society, 1978-79; Chief, Medical Staff, Memorial Hospital of Alamance County, 1975-78. Survivors include his loving and devoted wife, Jeanie Partin Sutton, 383 Portsmouth Ct., Burlington, N.C. 27215; his sons, Edward Colmery Sutton Jr. ’77 of Pittsboro, N.C., and Robert Pitman Sutton ’80of Chapel Hill, N.C.; his daughter, J. Brucie Sutton of Greensboro, N.C.; his grandson, Edward Colmery Sutton III of Pittsboro, N.C., and his granddaughter, Natalie Ann Sutton of Chapel Hill. He was preceded in death by his son, John Partin Sutton of Rockingham, N.C.; his mother, Clemmie Colmery Sutton and his father, John Pitman Sutton, both of Decatur, Ga. and Graham, N.C. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be given to W. Olin Puckett Premed Scholarship at Davidson College, Box 7174, Davidson, N.C. 28035; the First Presbyterian Church of Burlington or the Alamance/Caswell Hospice.