Forrest “Tug” Sutton, former Johnson County emergency management director, poses for a photo after announcing his retirement in June 2012. Sutton died Feb. 14 at the age of 79.
Daily Journal File Photo
A longtime Johnson County public servant who led the county’s emergency response during the 2008 flood has died.
Forrest “Tug’ Sutton died Feb. 14 at the age of 79. He served as the director of the Johnson County Emergency Management Agency for 12 years, from 1999 to 2012. Before that, he served two terms as county coroner, from 1984 to 1992, and worked at Eli Lilly for 40 years in a security role.
Sutton also was a firefighter for 25 years at the Bargersville Fire Department, serving as chief for six. He also served on boards for the Bargersville Fire District, White River Township Fire District, 911 Committee and the Greenwood Fire Department Merit Board, along with numerous other roles.
Time as firefighter, coroner
Bargersville Fire Deputy Chief Mike Pruitt has many memories with Sutton. Pruitt started working there in 1986, the same time Sutton was there, and they hit it off because Sutton had gone to school with his mother, he said.
Sutton served as chief during one of the most critical times for the department. He oversaw Bargersville Fire’s transition from a volunteer fire department to operating as a corporation with the fire protection district, Pruitt said.
As a volunteer department, Bargersville had relied on donations, fish frys and other fundraisers, along with some funding from townships they covered. However, as the population grew in their service areas, they needed more funding, Pruitt said.
This was when Sutton decided to pursue establishing a tax-supported fire district, Pruitt said.
“He was a key player in making that happen for us, which basically paved the roadway for the success of our organization now,” he said.
Pruitt also fondly recalled a story about a snowmobile sled Bargersville Fire received dubbed “The Sutton Sled.” The sled was donated to the department after a blizzard, and they called it The Sutton Sled because they tied Sutton to it and pulled him around town, he said.
“I always remember the guys talking about that story about dragging him all over Bargersville,” Pruitt said.
Alex White, a former Bargersville firefighter who now is a general manager for Seals Ambulance Service, remembers Sutton’s “good sense of humor” and called him a responsible man who served others. In his line of work, White is used to death but was shocked to learn of Sutton’s death, he said.
“It’ll be the conversations I’d miss the most, and the opportunity to reflect on times we shared, places we worked,” White said.
As coroner, Sutton was tasked with determining the cause of death in cases of violence or when someone was found dead in unexplained circumstances. When he was coroner, the county was much smaller and had fewer resources.
One of the last times Pruitt, the current coroner, saw Sutton was at the groundbreaking for the joint coroner’s office-health department building in Franklin last year. He was hoping to have Sutton there again when they cut the ribbon for the new building because he knew it was something Sutton was proud of, he said.
Ascending to EMA
As Johnson County EMA director, Sutton brought a progressive attitude. He helped bring the county forward into the 21st century and ensured the county kept up with emergency preparedness, Pruitt said.
Sutton helped coordinate the response to multiple disasters, including six that were serious enough for presidential disaster declarations. During his stint, EMA also saw many technology-related changes, including new and better equipment.
He became the county’s EMA director in October 1999, immediately being tasked with preparing a response plan for Y2K. At the time, there were concerns that when the year turned 2000, there would be havoc on computer systems across the U.S.
On New Year’s Eve, he camped out in his office waiting for reports of power and stoplight issues. They never materialized, and he went home.
EMA Director Stephanie Sichting worked with Sutton for 12 years before taking over his former post. She interviewed with Sutton for an administrative assistant position at EMA and was hired in December 2000, she recalled.
When Sutton started the job, it was only part-time. The director position was made full-time in 2006, Sichting said.
One of the priorities when Sutton began at EMA was updating the county’s emergency plans. When the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks happened, they were tasked with figuring out how to spend federal grant money given out in the attacks’ aftermath. Johnson County decided to purchase a mobile command center, Sichting said.
Sichting and Sutton worked together through a lot of disasters, including one of the biggest disasters in county history: the June 2008 flood. The day 11 inches of rain fell, Sutton worked with public safety agencies across the county, along with state offices and the Indiana National Guard, to ensure everyone received the help they needed.
In the days after, Sutton toured dozens of damaged homes and businesses and helped organize the recovery. The long days of recovery, millions of dollars in damage, and the losses residents suffered affected many. Seeing the damage in the Smith Valley area in particular was difficult, as it was where Sutton grew up, he told the Daily Journal in 2012.
“I never thought of myself as an emotional guy, but the stress of the 2008 flood was tremendous,” Sutton recalled.
When he announced his retirement in 2012, he said helping the public would be the part of the job he would miss the most. When he decided to retire, he told Sichting to get her resume together because he wanted her to apply for his job, she said.
Learning of Sutton’s death was shocking for Sichting, who had just seen him a month ago at a Greenwood v. Indian Creek basketball game, she said.
“It was just shocking after just seeing him because we were ‘cutting up’ and stuff during the game. … It took a lot of us by surprise,” Sichting said.
They also had stayed in touch over the years, and during the tornadoes last year, he told her how proud he was of the county’s response. Sichting will miss Sutton’s wisdom, she said.
Legacy of service
Sutton’s life was about family and service, specifically “unselfish service to the community.” He was involved in many organizations over the years, but his focus always turned to his family, his children and grandchildren, Pruitt said.
“It was all about them,” Pruitt said. “But his legacy of service is literally unmatched; from the time from the time that he served and all the county offices that he did.”
Sichting hopes everyone will remember how much Sutton helped public safety agencies, she said. She hopes his legacy of helping will live on, she said.
“I certainly hope his legacy would be remembered for all of the hard work he put in for the people in our community, both the county and Bargersville,” White added.
