CLAYTON - John Robert Suggs, age 88, passed away peacefully on Friday, October 22, 2021, at the Landings in Smithfield, North Carolina. Mr. Suggs stayed just over two weeks before he left us to join his beloved wife of 64 years, the late Parthenia Hood Suggs, in their heavenly home.
Funeral services will be conducted Friday, October 29, 2021 in the Chapel of McLaurin Funeral Home in Clayton with Reverend Robert Goode officiating. Entombment will follow at Pinecrest Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm prior to the service at the funeral home.
Mr. Suggs, affectionately known as Suggs or JR (Robert to his wife), was born July 9, 1933, in Pitt County, NC to the late Mary Suggs. In addition to his mother, he was preceded in death by his sister Addie Ruth Suggs-Smith, and his brother Paul Suggs.
Mr. Suggs grew up in Winterville, NC. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War before moving to Washington, D.C., where he and his family made their home for many years. He entered into federal government service in 1957, ultimately rising through National Security Agency ranks to be a cartographer/topographer responsible for the Soviet Union portfolio. Mr. Suggs’ hand-drawn maps were used for briefing several presidents on Cold War security matters, necessitating a top security clearance as well as two ‘pseudos’. In 1976 the family relocated to Clayton, NC but Mr. Suggs maintained his career in D.C., living in a rented room and commuting by Greyhound to NC every weekend until a severe cardiac episode in the D.C. Metro hastened his retirement in 1986.
Retirement did not slow him down. John Suggs cherished his church, his civic life, and working outside with his hands in some dirt or on some piece of farm equipment. His wife would quip that he was something with some wire and string, and that if she stood still too long in the yard he might tie her up along with all of the ornamental shrubs and trees he was constantly planting and moving around the yard. Whether on the Johnston County planning commission, or making the rounds to local grocery stores to collect donations for the church food pantry, or rushing to assist neighbors and family stuck in a tight spot, John Suggs was always on the go and ready to help. Generous to a fault, he would offer you almost anything he had and would take care of anyone who he thought needed it.
Mr. Suggs is survived by his brother Dr. Henry Lewis Suggs; son Kevin Robert Suggs, god-daughter Yolanda D. McGill; grandson Collin Robert (Vicky) Suggs; his nieces Stephanie Suggs, Maria Smith, nephews Paul Suggs, Jr., Andrew Smith, Jr., Donald Smith, and a host of cousins and other relatives and friends.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Mr. Suggs’ church, New Trinity Missionary Baptist (http://www.newtrinity.org/giving.html )
