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The 68-year-old woman leaves behind a husband of 30 years, Lewis Preston Sutton Jr., two daughters, three sons, two sisters, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Asked about her life she offered this advice to an interviewer in 2007 after learning of the cancer diagnosis — “Stand up for what you believe in, not matter how hard it makes life for you. … Do not give up and always say what you believe.”
A friend of Mrs. Sutton’s for the past 30 plus years, Richard Koritz, a independent book publisher, described her Saturday as “extremely courageous.”
She was a mill worker and the daughter of mill workers, he explained. But “she had the courage to step out from that role to defend what she believed in … being ostracized didn’t scare her … Nothing would stop here.”
She and Preston (her husband) had tough times but they never lost focus on the need to help those she called “the poor and the working poor.”
Kovitz remembered the last time he talked with her. “It was about 10 days ago in the hospital, and she was talking about the need to provide health care for the people who needed it — poor and working poor.”
Although she understood not all unions functioned the way they should, she believed the union was the best way for workers to achieve fairness and dignity, he said.
The formal obituary described Mrs. Sutton’s life: “A lifelong activist for the working class poor, she was key in bringing union representation to J. P. Stevens Mills in Roanoke Rapids, the first textile mill in the South to be unionized. She went on to be an eloquent spokeswoman for the working people, giving addresses worldwide. Her story was portrayed in the 1979 movie, ‘Norma Rae.’ … After moving to Burlington, she earned her certified nursing assistant certificate from ACC. In later years, she operated a day care center where a generation of children received the loving attention of ‘Meemaw.’”
One biographer noted an interview with Joan Shigekawa who feature Sutton in her 1975 PBS series, “Woman Alive.”
"We were impressed that she was a hardworking mother of three that was taking this great risk for workers' rights … She was working across all boundaries."
Shigekawa added, "Her courage was inspiring to people and I think that comes out very powerfully in the feature film. It takes a lot to stand up for your values in that way and put your job at risk fighting for principals. She is universally admired - whether you agreed with her or not. Her personal qualities gave her heart."
Visitation will today, Sunday, Sept. 13, at 2 p.m., at the McClure Funeral Home Chapel in Graham. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m., at the McClure Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. Walter Jones officiating. The funeral home is located at 1030 S. Main St., in Graham.
Memorials may be made to the Crystal Lee Sutton Foundation at Truliant Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 26000, Winston Salem NC 27114-6000
Editor’s note: We will be featuring a look at Crystal Lee Sutton’s Roanoke Valley legacy later in the week. If you have any memories of comments, please contact Managing Editor John Moeur at 252-535-2505 Ext. 233 or via e-mail johnmoeur@r4rdailyherald.com
Comments
joe wrote on Oct 1, 2009 4:55 PM:
Anti-Union wrote on Sep 24, 2009 9:13 PM:
robert wrote on Sep 24, 2009 5:04 PM:
That night when I came to work some of the employees that had supported the union (we knew who they were because they wore TWUA buttons) asked me if their $2.00 an hour rise started today. I asked where they got that idea and they said the union guy told them. Due to all the legal haggling that was going on with the NLRB and the other restrictions placed on the management by the courts. Our ability to discuss the issues with any hourly employee was restricted. It is sad that the employees that were mislead by the union organizers this way caused the down fall of a company that provided good paying jobs as well as benefits to approximately 3000 citizens of Roanoke Rapids.
There were problems at JPS as with any large business, but a union was not the answer as is evident by the demise of the plants in town. The other plants in the Terry Bath and Kitchen Products division that are located in Wagram NC are still in operation. Yes the economy is tough but the burden and restrictions that were placed on the business by the union cost the company the completive edge needed to compete in today’s environment "
Billy wrote on Sep 22, 2009 9:50 PM:
lynn wrote on Sep 21, 2009 8:47 AM:
Carol wrote on Sep 20, 2009 9:58 PM:
former JPSEEC Member wrote on Sep 20, 2009 5:11 PM:
" Maybe those people who regret the mills being gone would like to go back to being slaves. "
What is slavery got to do with it?
People APPLIED for jobs and were hired..they wern't forced to work against their will...They could have left at anytime...and I know they use to work children..BUT the Labor Laws fixed that problem...NOT the UNIONS!! "
Pam wrote on Sep 20, 2009 1:14 PM:
What Crystal Sutton is responsible for is moving the Unions into the textile mills, beginning here in RR, so that people working there would be treated fairly and not used as slave labor. The unions fought for equal pay, vacation time, sick time, the right for workers to have medical treatment when they were injured on the job. For the folks who revel in the rememberance and thankfulness of the Mills to provide for their families, perhaps you should also remember that Crystal's urgance of unionization also helped to see to it that you were provided for. "
William wrote on Sep 19, 2009 10:29 PM:
Nancy wrote on Sep 19, 2009 12:37 AM:
Catherine wrote on Sep 18, 2009 11:25 PM:
Jack wrote on Sep 15, 2009 11:06 AM:
Tess Goodman wrote on Sep 14, 2009 4:51 PM:
former JPSEEC member wrote on Sep 14, 2009 3:29 PM: