With a shattered heart

I'm so sorry Debby. I'm so sorry Dani. I'm so sorry for everybody that knew and loved Steve...his family and friends.

Wow. What can I say. Steve reached out to me a while back on Facebook and it was great to hear from him. I'm not going to lie, the two of us had some down time I guess you'd call it. I was with guys I met on this page 16 years ago when I walked up the big boat ramp in Rockland, Maine after an amazing hunt with Alvin Chase. My cell phone got wet and the salt fried it...Steve had the same phone and we both thought it was the best cell phone on the market (...imagine that). The other crew was at the ramp waiting for us and acting strange as I walked up. Steve handed me his phone and said, "You need to call Angie". I called her and she told me my dad had died of a massive heart attack that morning. I was in shock about it of course and the trip changed for everybody at that point.

I had spoken to my father the night before while the guys and I had dinner and lots of beer at a cool place downtown. I remember the fireplace was huge and I described it to my dad...he loved Maine. Steve had told me I'd really like that place and wished my father could have been there too after I'd told him stories about the old man. That evening we drove down the coast to Derry, New Hampshire and stayed at one of my dad's best friends place. I flew home the next morning when they dropped me off at the Manchester Airport. That was the last time I saw Steve Sutton.

I thought about him over the years many times and occasionally we'd communicate but that day in Maine, I was a lost soul and part of me never came back. Still hasn't. And something weird happened between Steve and I. Things were strained. It always bothered the hell out of me to be honest. But, I knew in the long run we'd cross paths again so when he reached out to me recently I was happy...relieved even. I already had it in my mind that we'd go on some adventure in the near future. That isn't going to happen but I do know that all of us should be reminded when silly shit forms a wall of silence between people the time to fix it is now. I can only imagine the good times we'd have had...things I would have learned. The laughs we'd have shared.

Sorry for writing a book...my first post in many years. Steve was definitely larger than life. Rest In Peace Steve...
 
I read this a few hours ago and couldn't think of what to say and still having a hard time believing it. The world is a lesser place without him.
 
Got a call from Hank Garvey a couple of hours ago that I wish that I hadn't. He told me about Steve, ??.like a kick in the gut. Steve and I were some of the first members of this website and it led to a friendship that few have. Debbie, you have my prayers tonight.
One of my very best friends and one of the funniest guys ever. We hunted literally from Maine to Washington and I hoped to join him and Dani in Florida this year. I can't write any more.Rest easy Steve, Bill Wasson
 
Dani, I still can?t process this really happened, I so much appreciated the call,
Rose and I are so sad for everyone in Steve?s family especially Debbie, we had some great hunts together over the years and I?ll cherish the time I got to spend with a guy who was truly larger than life..

Fred
 
I don't know what to say beyond he was my friend. I got a text from Steve on Monday that I will never be able to return. The last thing he wrote, "Hope you are getting out and finding some birds" I told the bride yesterday that I was planning on taking two weeks to hang with Steve in MT next Sept. Work, kids, life, I had put it off to long. When we hunted together we laughed, we argued, we had fun, we told stories, he called me on my shit, I called him on his shit. He brought to many damned socks. Most importantly he treated his dogs well.

This picture is from one of our MT trips. Steve, Mike, and Aspen are all gone now. I miss them all.


View attachment Steve, Mike, Aspen, and the '97.jpg

My best,

Don
 
My condolences to his wife and family. Very tragic.

I never met Steve but through this website I got to know him years ago. As I recall he was in sales and traveled a lot. He would bring supplies with him and carve decoys in his hotel room. I think his posts about carving is where the term BSC got coined after heated discussions about tan cork and that Black Sh*t Cork which is what he preferred to use.

He left a lot of memories with the members of this site. What's your favorite memory of Steve?
 
Dani, I am truly sorry to hear of this . I remember Steve as a early contributor to this site. He was a very knowledgeable and a passionate outdoorsman. Sorry for your loss. God be with you Steve .
 

Dani and Family,
I didn't know Steve, but after reading so many kind words, I think we all wish the same could be said of us: husband, mentor, friend, a character and someone to be admired. People like Steve make all of us better. So sorry for your loss.
 
Oh my God I'm so sorry to hear of this. I cannot come up with any consoling words. Treasure the memories, I guess. I am also going to miss hearing of your stories where he is involved.
Damn.

Jon
 
Dani, at my age you think more frequently about your passing. For someone like Steve, a sudden death, doing what you want, I suspect, is more desired than sitting in a nursing home watching your life pass away piecemeal, in tiny increments of time. His passing was horrific, you are right. Your and Debbie's loss is searing because of that.. My condolences.

After the shock has faded, as your picture montage already outlines, I would encourage you to focus on those shared times and memories that made your friendship precious, worthwhile, and cherished. Few of us have a life combined with its secondary riches as Steve experienced, and fewer still of us would likely appreciate that wealth of experiences he had as a consequence. He was an example, to me, of someone who fully understood that how we live is, at minimum, as important as how long we live.

Again, my condolences to you and Debbie on your loss.
 
Dani. This was the most unexpected and saddest news. I just exchanged some hunting pictures and a phone call with steve last week. We haven?t been able to get together in many years but we always made a point to call each other a few times a year if anything just to make sure we were ok. I am going to miss him and his laugh. Dani, you and I never met or spoke but I feel I know you. When steve and I talked you always were a part of what he was doing that involved his hunting and fishing. Know that you and Steve?s family will be in our thoughts. Please give Debby a big hug from all of us on the forum. Take care, Greg Bires
 
Dani,
I'm so sorry for your loss. Steve and I never met in person but had many wonderful phone conversations. We always talked of hunting brant and black ducks in coastal NJ together some day. I have a pair of Old Squaw that he carved that will certainly get a ceremonial float this season in his honor. I'm just at a loss... life is so fragile.
 
Dani, so very sorry for your loss. My heart aches for Deb and the rest of the Sutton clan.


I first met Steve at a DBHP Lobster Fest years ago at Alvin Chase's house. He was the loudest, funniest, most hilarious guy at the party. I remember walking down to the lake where all the duck boats were lined up and I could hear this guy with a southern twang telling some joke that was probably too inappropriate for the setting, but everyone was rolled over laughing. And man, could he pack away the lobsters. I busted his chops once when he posted that he'd landed in Manchester, NH and the first place he hit for a lobster roll was McDonald's. I think he knew we were going to rib him, and he had a good laugh.



His passing hit me like a ton of bricks. Steve and I would trade emails every couple of years about decoy carving, old guns, lobsters, sea duck hunting, and we made tentative plans for him to come up to New England one fall to hunt woodcock and chow down on clams and lobsters. I also talked with him about writing a book about eider hunting.


This was an email from Steve from a few years back. Seems especially poignant now. I think I sent him a photo of a really huge Maine lobster that was caught.


"Now thats just cruel.....but tasty looking.....I'm starting to get the Lobster Jones after two summers without any...."MUST MAKE LOBSTER RUN"...the PERFECT reason to come in October for Lobster and Woodcock....hmmmmm...now theres an idea....

Summers been good so far....actaully carving again after not being able to last summer due to depth perception problems...the couple I did last year will be worth MILLIONS after I'm gone and will be forever remembered as the my "Dahli Birds".....

Falls coming!!! Best, Steve."


Steve sent me a box of primo black cork that's been sitting in my shop for far too long. I'm going to carve some ducks from that cork, in his honor. I'm going to miss him. And, I am going to write that book.


Fair winds, Steve. See you on the other side.


Best,
Nate Grace
 
Dani,

I am so sorry for your and Debby's loss. I never met or spoke with the man but he was certainly a presence here and I am sure in life.

Tom
 
Totally shocking news! Steve was without question one of a kind! Going back a lot of years I owe him for many things. I learned of this page from Steve. He was very active selling my books to members. If I were to pick one trip that didn't work out to be the worst, it was a trip that Steve and his wife were going to go to Northern Ireland with Marge and myself for golden plover. It would have been a classic. The top thing that Steve did for me was without question was including me on a sora rail hunt in Missouri. I will always remember him calling "Dar he" when a rail flushed. It is a sad, sad day. Worth
 
I am shocked and saddened. My condolences to you ,Debby and the family. I always looked forward to your posts,pictures and stories of you Steve and the dogs. He will be missed.
Prayers and God bless.
 
Dani, I am so sorry to hear of this. I can remember so many of those pictures that you showed us over the years. Words might soothe but only for a short time. May strength be given in times of need to you and to Steve's family and friends.
Al
 
Steve was a good friend who I chatted with online, via e-mail and over the phone. We met once in person at the Tuckerton show where he introduced me to a group of guys, many of whom became lifelong friends. Steve's energy and humor were boundless. Watching him work the crowd at Tuckerton was like watching a master in his element. An introvert myself, Steve drew me out and often had me laughing so hard I couldn't hold back. I?d like to share stories, but the most memorable, and hysterical, involve subjects not suitable for the forum. He also introduced me to Bud Miles, and guided me through picking out and customizing the sneakbox I ordered from Bud.

Like Jay, Steve and I came to be at odds over something regrettable, and suddenly everything stopped. I hadn't spoken to him in over a decade but hoped to rekindle our friendship one day. I'm deeply saddened that won't come to pass.

What a loss. Damn! My condolences to Dani, Debby and the rest of his family and friends.

Ed
 
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