Julie Sutton Passes Away

Julie Sutton, wife of stock contractor Jim Sutton Jr., passed away July 21 after battling cancer. She was 85.

Jim was inducted in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo., July 17. But Julie was unable to attend the ceremony.

“She desperately wanted to get through this weekend,” said Kim Sutton, Jim, and Julie’s daughter-in-law prior to the induction ceremony. “She was so close. She’s weak. We were pretty sad, and Jim didn’t want to come, and she told him, ‘You are going. This is the honor of a lifetime.”

Jim and Julie were the recipients of the 2017 PRCA Donita Barnes Contract Personnel Lifetime Achievement Award. They were married for 68 years.

The history of the Suttons’ being involved in the rodeo business traces back to 1926 when Edwin Sutton, Jim’s grandfather, began producing rodeos on the home ranch in Sully County, S.D.

Jim and Julie took the company to the next level with a focus on production and innovation. Sutton Rodeo has had its stock selected to perform at every National Finals Rodeo since 1959 but two.

A Celebration of Life Service for Julie will be held at 6 p.m. (CDT), July 26 at the Sully Buttes Gymnasium in Onida, S.D. Burial will be held at the Onida Cemetery with dinner and fellowship to follow back at the gymnasium.

For those who have inquired, a memorial scholarship fund is being developed. Cards or memorial donations can be sent to: Sutton Rodeo, P.O. Box 402, Onida, S.D., 57564. Surrounding florists include Pink Petal, 605.224.1775 and Capitol City Florist, 605.224.48

Courtesy of PRCA