Buddy Sutton

Church leader, lawyer and father

William H. "Buddy" Sutton
William H. "Buddy" Sutton

Wes Sutton said he was most proud of his father when he was chairman of the Billy Graham Crusade, which William H. "Buddy" Sutton had worked on for a year before the week-long event was held at War Memorial Stadium in 1989.

"It was a wonderful success, and knowing his role in that was very heart-warming for all of us," Wes Sutton said, recalling a photo of his father standing on stage with his mother; Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton; Johnny Cash; and Billy Graham.

Buddy Sutton, a longtime Little Rock attorney and active community member, died Thursday morning at 84 after a months-long illness.

Sutton was a managing partner at Friday, Eldredge and Clark until retiring in 2005.

He was also active in the Baptist community as president of the Arkansas Baptist Convention and serving on the board of trustees at Ouachita Baptist University and at Baptist Health. He and his wife, Peggy, also taught Sunday school at Immanuel Baptist Church for decades.

"He was a very giving man," said his son, 52. "Many people that we never knew about have already reached out to us and let us know about things he did for them that were unsolicited."

Outside of the Baptist community, Buddy Sutton served on the board of directors at Dillard's, on the board of trustees at Pulaski Technical College and was chairman of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, according to the Friday law firm's website.

In 1997, Sutton discussed his religion and the "rough-and-tumble" game of law with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's High Profile editor, Phyllis D. Brandon.

He said his strong religious beliefs and the law conflicted sometimes, as endeavors can for many other people.

"I think you set up priorities and say this priority in your life has to be sanctified, set aside and protected above anything else," he said. "If you violate that sanctified area, then you are just a mess."

He also discussed representing guilty people along with innocent people.

"The law practice is not Sunday school," he said. "You have people who are trying to get along with the law and people who are saying they ought to be corrected in some way. So the people who have disputes with the law are not always the people who behave the way you think should be correct. It's a rough-and-tumble game.

"A lawyer is trained to believe that his client is entitled to a dedicated friend who is skilled enough to be helpful to him," Sutton continued in the interview. "He's not supposed to be the judge and the jury. That's the thing the lawyer has to learn. You're to help the person ... That person needs your 100 percent devotion and dedication at the time, and he's entitled under the law."

Kevin Crass, an attorney at the Friday law firm hired by Sutton in 1982, rewatched a video Thursday morning that he and his colleagues put together for Sutton when he retired 10 years ago and remembered the comments he made for it.

"One of the reasons he was so successful was his approach to representing clients followed the golden rule," Crass said. "He represented clients the way he wanted to be represented."

Crass considered Sutton a mentor after working closely with him for years on high-profile cases. Sutton was a "perfect" partner at the law firm because he wanted everyone to succeed and helped them do it, he said.

Sutton was born in Hope on March 13, 1931, and graduated from Hope High School, where he was student body president. He also met his first wife, Peggy Pentecost, there. The couple had three children and were married 52 years before her death. He later married Susan Overton.

He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he played for the Razorbacks football team along with several men who later turned pro -- Pat Summerall, Dave Hanner, Fred Williams, Lamar McHan, Lewis Carpenter and others.

Wes Sutton said he thought on Thursday of Summerall, who remained good friends with Buddy Sutton throughout their lives. Summerall died in 2013.

"They're meeting today in heaven," Wes Sutton said. "That's a sweet reunion."

Buddy Sutton was drafted in 1953 by the Baltimore Colts. He signed for $200 but didn't make the team after tryouts.

Wes Sutton said his father viewed that $200 as seed money for law school.

"He said getting cut from the Baltimore Colts was the best thing that ever happened to him," Wes Sutton said.

Buddy Sutton was selling cars in Camden as a fresh college graduate -- before trying out for the Colts -- when his ROTC unit was called into the Air Force. Two years later, after things didn't work out in Baltimore, he used the GI Bill to go back to Fayetteville for law school.

He graduated in 1959 and then joined the Friday law firm -- known back then as Mehaffy, Smith and Williams.

The law firm, and Sutton, worked with clients like Dillard's, Union Pacific and Browning Arms Co.

Sutton represented Jim Guy Tucker when the former governor was facing charges from the Whitewater grand jury.

Wes Sutton, who worked as a runner at the firm, said he'll never forget seeing his dad at trials, especially the Whitewater one.

"It was quite a privilege."

Metro on 07/03/2015

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