Estelle (Eisen) Sutton

Estelle (Eisen) Sutton, formerly of Sharon and recently of Norwood, entered into rest on November 13, 2024, at the age of 91. She is predeceased by her husband Lester Sutton, her parents Alex and Jean Eisen, and her sister Claire Weiner.

She is survived by her daughter Susan Tinianow (Mark), son Steven Sutton (Carol), and son James Sutton (David), her brother Martin Eisen, and her 5 grandchildren: Alex and Joseph Tinianow, and Eliana, Jenelise and Gabriel Sutton.

Estelle was born in 1933, in the Bronx, New York City and she married her childhood sweetheart Lester Sutton in 1953.

While raising her 3 young children in the Bronx, Estelle went back to college to finish her degree in Elementary Education at CCNY (City College of New York). After graduation, she taught in New York City under the Welfare Education Program for adult clientele. When her family moved to Sharon, MA in 1969, Estelle wanted to continue to use her education and experience to help adults learn to speak English, get their GED (General Education Development) to graduate high school, and get their citizenship. There were no such programs available in Sharon at that time, so she advocated for this, petitioned to get funding, and then developed the Sharon Adult Basic Ed evening program where she was the supervisor and taught classes in ESL (English as a Second Language), citizenship, and High School Equivalency/GED. She was a devoted and gifted teacher for all and she loved teaching everyone who wanted to learn. She especially loved to make everyone feel welcome no matter what their insecurities were. She always said everyone was equally special and was entitled to feel they had a right to become a citizen, to get an education, and to graduate high school.

Estelle was also a substitute teacher during the daytime at the Sharon Cottage Street Elementary School. While teaching there she initiated the Elementary Educational Environmental Poem and Poster Program for the Federal EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in Boston Region 1, where her husband Lester Sutton, eventually served as the EPA New England Regional Administrator in 1981. Local elementary schools in the region had students submit original poems and posters on how to save the environment that were entered into a contest which Sharon Cottage Street Elementary School won, and they were honored and awarded at a presentation at Faneuil Hall in Boston. She continually took classes in Boston and surrounding towns to keep learning all she could in all subjects. Forever curious, she was always eager to learn about new things.

Estelle enjoyed hosting and participating in social activities as a life member of Hadassah and the Brandeis Women’s Association. She loved to spend time with her family and grandchildren (especially the annual Thanksgiving family reunions she and Lester hosted at their home in Sharon) and some of her hobbies included dancing in her younger days, art, painting and crafts, playing bridge and chess, and in her later years doing puzzles and playing her favorite game “bingo”.

Funeral services will be held at the Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, 475 Washington Street, Canton, MA on Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 1:00 PM, with burial to follow at Sharon Memorial Park, 40 Dedham Street, Sharon.

The family will be receiving visitors following the burial, from 2:30 - 5:30 PM, at Benchmark Senior Living at 40 Clapboardtree Street in Norwood, MA.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to a charity of your choice.