Sutton, Maurice Earl (1933 - 2025)

SUTTON, EKSE, HORAK, GIRVAN, MAURER, PFISTER, GIRVAN

Posted By: Denise Wurner (email)
Date: 6/20/2025 at 14:07:14

Name of deceased: Maurice Earl Sutton

Aged: 91 yrs, 6 mo, 11 days

Residence: Audubon, Audubon County, IA

Born: Nov. 27, 1933; Minden, Pottawattamie County, IA

Died: June 8, 2025; Audubon County Memorial Hospital, Audubon, Audubon County, IA

Funeral services: Wednesday, June 25, 2025; Exira Christian Church, Exira, IA; burial was in the Harlan Cemetery, Harlan, IA

Survived by: Children, Hugh Sutton and Melanie Sutton, both of Seattle, WA; in-laws, Bonnie Ekse, Barb (spouse, Don) Horak, and Jim Girvan and Hillary Maurer; other family members and friends

Predeceased by: Parents, Otha and Mabel (nee Pfister) Sutton; wife, Gloria (deceased 2018)

Education: Graduated from Harlan (IA) high school; he played trumpet in several school bands. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1955, and was in ROTC and band, and was dorm president. After his military service, in 1957, he entered the University of Iowa Law School, finishing early.

Religious affiliation: Active member of the University Christian Church, Des Moines, IA; later, after their move to Audubon in 2009, they became active members in the Exira Christian Church, where he served as an elder for many years and worked at the food pantry.

Military service: Served in the U. S. Army, spending his time in Germany, first as a paratrooper, then with Courts and Boards

Marriage: Gloria Girvan; June 17, 1961; Odebolt, IA

Employment: After graduating from high school, Maurie worked for 1 summer as a Yellowstone park ranger; the experience gave him a lifelong love of national parks. While attending the University of Iowa, he worked at UI's hospital program for disabled children, and it was here that he met his future wife, Gloria Girvan. He retired in 1996 to a family farm near Templeton, IA, and then finally moved to Audubon, IA in 2009.

Hobbies/Interests: Member, Lions Club; volunteered as a Cub Scoutmaster and for Community Services for the Blind; additionally, he worked for some political campaigns in Seattle and later in Iowa. Maurie loved to travel by car with his family, taking trips all over the US; loved to take photos, and always had a couple camera bags with him on trips; loved camping at the Pacific Ocean, and built platform beds so the family could all sleep in their camper van. After they moved to Audubon in 2009, they enjoyed taking drives around the local area and thrift shopping.

Sources: knodfm.com; schmidtfamilyfh.com