William Edward Sutton

William Edward Sutton August 22, 1949-December 4, 2020 William Edward Sutton, 71, died December 4, 2020 at his home in Gorman, Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents, John Edward Sutton and Ethel Irene Capers Sutton and a nephew, Richard Jeffrey Sutton II. He is survived by two brothers, John Mack Sutton of Round Rock, and Richard Jeffrey Sutton of Llano, and numerous nephews, nieces and grand-nephews and grand-nieces. Ed was born in Gorman and was basically a lifelong Gorman resident, although his work took him around the world and throughout the United States. Ed came from a Gorman Sutton pioneer family who came to Gorman around 1914 during the first oil boom in Eastland County. The Gorman population had skyrocketed to about 50,000. Two brothers, John and Edward Sutton established a dry goods (clothing) store in downtown Gorman in a building that later became the Corner Drug Store. In 1917 the two brothers were joined by a third brother, William Aston Sutton, and the establishment, now named the Sutton Brothers clothing store, moved into larger quarters in the middle of the block. Will and Ed settled in Gorman for the long haul, each having a son. Will's son, John Edward Sutton, was named for Will's two brothers. The older brother, John Sutton, decided to move back to the family origins in Abingdon, VA, leaving the two remaining Sutton Brothers, Ed and Will, with the store. Sutton Brothers remained a pillar of the community through the next oil boom in the ‘30s, the Great Depression and World War II. After the deaths of the two Sutton Brothers, the store was sold in 1949. Ed was the namesake of the two Sutton Brothers, William and Edward. He was retired from Halliburton Oil Servicing company and a retired long-haul trucker. With Haliburton, he worked off shore in Brunei, and South America, in Syria and other distant lands. His truck driving career took him from East Coast to West Coast, north and south and into Canada. Ed was graduated from Gorman High School and attended Stephen F. Austin University and Cisco Junior College. He was a naturalist and self-taught ornithologist. He could hold his own with college educated, professional ornithologists and enjoyed discussing bird habitants and their migration patterns. Due to the ongoing pandemic, no public services are scheduled, Ed's ashes will be interred in the old section of the Gorman Cemetery, next to the other Suttons. Service Details.

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