John “Matt” Sutton ’52 died Sept. 20, 2022, at Good Samaritan Society-Prairie Creek in Sioux Falls.
Sutton, 91, of Sioux Falls and formerly of Pierre and Agar, was a member of the 1976 class of Distinguished Alumni.
Sutton grew up on the Sutton Ranch near the Missouri River and was educated at rural Sully County schools and Onida High School before enrolling at South Dakota State as an animal science major. While there he served on the student Board of Control for two years, was secretary of Little International and a member of the junior judging team.
Sutton also played on the undefeated 1950 football team and was a starting guard on the record-setting 1951 squad that went 8-1.
After graduation, he spent a short time in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant in the infantry and then returned to the Sutton Ranch.
On Jan. 1, 1958, he married Helen Tande Juve, the widow of a college football teammate. She brought a daughter, Nancy, to the union. Sutton adopted her. John III joined the family in 1970.
Sutton’s prowess in agriculture included pioneering work in artificial insemination of beef cattle, irrigating with water from Lake Oahe and producing sunflowers in Sully County. His most noteworthy accomplishment may have been leading a group of U.S. cattlemen to Ireland to import the first full-blooded Simmental cattle into the United States in 1972.
In addition, he judged horses and cattle in four states and was an invited speaker on ag topics in nine states.
Sutton’s father, John Sr., was named an Eminent Farmer by SDSU in 1972, and Matt Sutton received that honor in 1986. Sutton also was named by SDSU as the South Dakota Agribusiness Person in 1978. John Sr. was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1991, and John Jr. followed him in 1999.
Sutton served four years in the state Legislature; 10 years on the South Dakota Board of Regents, two as president; two years as chief clerk of the South Dakota House of Representatives; and co-chaired Dick Kneip’s first campaign for governor.
His lasting legacy will be the conversion of his ranch into Sutton Bay Golf, nationally known for its beautiful golf course and its bountiful hunting and fishing.
The Suttons lived on the Sutton Ranch for more than 50 years before retiring to Pierre in 2009 and to Sioux Falls in 2011.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Helen ’53, in 2017; a brother, Kenny, and brothers-in-law Timer Allison and Elliot Byrum. Survivors include two sisters, Lois Byrum, Sioux Falls, and Thelma Allison, Rapid City; sisters-in-law Becky Thompson, Wessington Springs, and Rita Sutton, Kadoka; a son, John, (Rachelle); a daughter, Nancy, and three grandchildren.
