BELGRADE- John Thomas Sutton, known universally as Jack, died peacefully on September 14, 2026 at his home in Belgrade, Maine. He was 91.

Jack was born on September 28, 1934 in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of George Hinks Sutton and Alice Blasberg Sutton. He graduated from MIT in 1955, joined Alcoa as an industrial engineer the following year, and received his MS degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1962. In 1963 he moved his young family to Maine and joined Keyes Fibre Company in Waterville, where he served 30 years in engineering, management and executive roles, retiring in 1993 as Vice President of Global Technical Services.

Throughout his life he was active in a multitude of local organizations and causes, including chair of Associated Industries of Maine and the Maine Better Transportation Board, trustee of Kennebec Valley Community College foundation, and director of the Belgrade Regional Health Center. For the Town of Belgrade he also served on the Select Board, Long Range Planning, Budget, and Road Committees, as well as numerous subcommittees and working groups. Reflecting his lifelong interest in railroads he is past president of Maine Rail Group (MRG, Inc), and remained affiliated with that organization until the end of his life.

Anyone who spent time with Jack knew him to be immensely capable, resourceful, and energetic - a fiercely dedicated independent thinker, determined, and resolutely stubborn. He loved his farm, orchard and gardens, cutting firewood, pruning pine trees and puttering in the woods on his 1951 Ford tractor. He had a prodigious, almost uncanny memory for a wide range of facts and details, though railroad trivia, Gilbert & Sullivan operas and off-color poems figured disproportionately. He was a keen marksman and could knap a rough arrowhead out of a dull, flint pebble. During his childhood in northern New Jersey he assembled an impressive collection of Native American artifacts and he and his Uncle Hugo won field trials with their Brittany spaniels.

Jack was predeceased by his beloved wife, Catherine (Kati) Brandenberg Sutton, who died in 2018 following a long illness; his sister, Margie Korteweg, her husband, Jack, and their daughter, Wendy.

He is survived by his children, Nancy Vailas (Alex) of New Castle, New Hampshire, and Richard Sutton (Robin Lippert) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, along with his three grandchildren, Arianna Vailas, Jack Vailas and Eliza Sutton.

No services will be held at this time. A celebration of Jack's life will be announced at a future date.

In the spirit of Jack's commitment to land conservation and local causes, donations in Jack’s name may be made to 7 Lakes Alliance or to another Maine charity of your choice.