He was born in Wiscasset on February 6, 1920, a son of Brice J. and Bertha (Hanson) Sutter.
He grew up on his parent’s farm, the site of the present Wiscasset Airport. He attended Wiscasset schools. After leaving school he went to work for Doyle’s Bus Service in Bath. His next job was working at Bath Iron Works. Jim entered the fight early, being drafted in July of 1942 and served to October of 1945. During that time he advanced to Tech Sgt. He went to Armorer’s School in Santa Anita in 1943. He learned to maintain and repair all types of hand and shoulder weapons and machine guns. It is no wonder he was a good shot after all the test firing of his repair work. He was stationed in England for several months before being part of the second wave of soldiers to hit the beach at Normandy. He earned a campaign ribbon with 5 stars and a Good Conduct Medal. He kept in touch with one Army buddy, George Foster of Coffeyville, KS for years and they renewed many stories of their travels through Europe and ending up in Germany.
On September 8, 1946 he married Jean Bailey and they bought a farm in North Newcastle, where they resided until the early 50’s. They moved back to Wiscasset and he went on to become one of the last jail keepers at the old brick jail on Federal Street, during which time they lived in the house. He was employed at the Brunswick Naval Air Station for 15 years as a carpenter and served on the Employees’ Council. He then went to work building boats at Nick Roth’s Boat Shop in Edgecomb. He also designed and built small boats for his son-in-law’s seaweed harvesting business in the mid 1970’s. He enjoyed gathering seaweed himself for a while and being out on the water around the little islands.
He was a charter member of the Wiscasset Yacht Club where he helped build the original Club House. He was a member of the Saint Andrews Society, a life member of D.A.V., served on the Budget Committee in Wiscasset for 23 years and was Wiscasset Harbor Master for many years.
He enjoyed cooking, gardening, reading, hunting and anything to do with boats and the water. He and his friend, Dick King had great fun when they were hired to sail their boat in the movie Carousel filmed in Boothbay in 1955.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jean B. Sutter of Wiscasset, one son, David J. Sutter of Wiscasset, one daughter, Susan J. Sutter of Alna, one sister, Elinor Leslie and her husband Dean of Akron, Ohio, three grandchildren, Samantha Bishop, Elizabeth Freeman-Dumais and Noah Freeman, four great grandchildren, Alexis Bishop, Lily and Haley Dumais and Calia Freeman and many nieces and nephews.
A graveside service will be held at 1 PM on Saturday, June 16, 2012 at Greenlawn Cemetery in Wiscasset. A reception will follow. Memorial contributions may be made to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 7, Edgecomb, 04556 or a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements are by Daigle Funeral Home, 819 High Street, Bath. Condolences may be made online at www.Daiglefuneralhome.com.
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