Nancy Lee Janet Whitmore Sutton was born in Baltimore, Maryland on October 11, 1925, the daughter of Otho Marvin(O.M.) and Janet Whitmore.Her Lord Jesus Christ lovingly brought her home the morning of September 28, 2013, surrounded by her children.

A memorial service will be held for Nancy Sutton at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, October 12, 2013 at Bickford of Okemos, 3830 Okemos Road, Okemos, Michigan, 48864.

A funeral service celebrating her life will be held at 12:30 p.m. the following Saturday, October 19, 2013, at Charlestown United Protestant Church, Angels Chapel, Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, Maryland, 21228. The family will visit with friends and relatives preceding the service beginning at 11:30 am. Burial will be at Druid Ridge Cemetery, Baltimore following the service.

Nancy lived most of her life in the Baltimore area, with three years in Oklahoma City, OK in the mid 1960's. The last three years of her life, Nancy lived at Bickford of Okemos, Michigan, just a few miles from her daughter and son-in-law, Claudia and Richard Kerbawy. Nancy was married to her beloved Alan C. Sutton on April 12, 1947 and he preceded her to heaven thirty years later on March 5, 1977. She is survived by her children: Pamela Pospisil, Claudia (Richard) Kerbawy, and Robert (Julio) Sutton; grandchildren: Heather Max Pospisil, Derek Pospisil, Christopher (Hillary) Kerbawy, Alex Kerbawy (fiancé Miranda) and Jessica Kerbawy; and great-grandchildren:Liam and Ava Kerbawy. She is also survived by her brother Charles (Lauralee) Whitmore, sister-in-law Ruth Whitmore, and brother-in-law Harry Sutton as well as many nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her brothers Marvin and Bob Whitmore, "sister" Marjorie Sutton and sisters-in-law Barbara Whitmore and Harriet Sutton.

Nancy grew up in a loving family focused on their Christian faith and actively involved at Trinity Methodist Church in Baltimore. She and her brothers shared stories of growing up on the farm with their cousins at Mosswood, sledding down the steep hill through the woods behind their house on Prospect Circle and teenage antics at the Alto Road house.

Nancy achieved an Associates Degree in Arts at St. Mary's Female Seminary, St. Mary's, Maryland, as her older brothers were fighting in the Army during WWII. She later studied voice at Peabody Institute in Baltimore and became a soloist, often singing at Elderslie United Methodist Church. Music was a constant in Nancy's life, a gift she shared whether in the church choirs at Trinity, Elderslie, Grace, Colesville, and Mt. Zion Methodist Churches; at home with her children; working at the Whitmore Nursery School in Baltimore and Maryland Farms in Beltsville, MD.; or walking through the many long halls of Charlestown Retirement Community and even the last few years at Bickford. She always brought joy to those who heard her sing. Some of our earliest memories are of sitting with Mom as she played the piano and sang with us in the dining room of our home on Pimlico Road. It was Mom singing "Oklahoma" that was the first clue of our move there in the mid 1960's. It was song (often hymns) that accompanied, and kept Dad awake, during every long trip in the car.

Nancy was fun and adventurous. She taught us the proper way to roll down hills, and belly-womp on a sled down a hill. When we, her children, were in and past college, the neighborhood kids would knock on her door asking Mrs. Sutton if she could come out and play…and she did, including belly-womp sledding down the very steep Rosemere Avenue hill. She loved exploring the natural world and became an expert on her camp stove.She was thrilled by a herd of buffalo running through the family campsite at Oklahoma's Wichita Wildlife Refuge, by a hike among ferns and blooming mountain laurel to West Virginia's Blackwater Falls, and by the vivid colors of Yellowstone's Morning Glory pool.After her husband Alan passed away, Nancy taught herself to use his tools and construct the various projects that she designed. Well into her 50's, she went back to college at Loyola in Baltimore, and went on a 6-month missionary journey with Youth With A Mission; including 3 months of training in Hawaii and 3 months of mission work in Singapore, Thailand, China and the Philippines. She even smuggled Bibles into China.

The hallmark of Nancy's life, however, was her deep abiding and active faith and service to her Lord Jesus Christ. In the early 1970's she and Alan both received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and began a deeper walk in their faith that impacted who they were, all they did and everyone they came in contact with. With others in the Colesville, Maryland area they founded the interdenominational Pilgrim Hill Fellowship. This provided a forum for deepening and expressing their faith and service to the Lord. Her walk in faith has been a profound inspiration to her family and friends, and she has been instrumental in lovingly bringing many to new and deepened faith. Although Alzheimer's Disease slowly robbed her of her memory and cognition over the last seven years, it was during prayer and singing favorite hymns that her soul became filled with joy and peace, her voice strong, and her thoughts and words clear. To pray with her was rich and she always prayed a blessing over those praying with her. Although Nancy will be greatly missed by all who knew her, as stated so well by her grandson Alex, her passing "brought great peace to her soul; she long knew the great wealth of love that awaited her in heaven." Her legacy is Love and Service to Christ.

Donations may be made to:
·Great Lakes Hospice Foundation, 900 Cooper St, Jackson, MI, 49202; or
·Charlestown United Protestant Church, 719 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, MD, 21228 for their mission programs.
Charlestown Retirement Community Staff Scholarship Program, 719 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, MD, 21228