James Sutterfield

James R. "Jim" Sutterfield, Sr.

* * *

Louisiana State Representative
for District 26 (Orleans Parish)

Preceded by  |  Nat G. Kiefer
Succeeded by  |  Charles Borello
(district renumbered)

* * *

Born  |  August 6, 1942
Houston, Texas
Died  |  November 9, 2018 (aged 76)
Touro Infirmary in New Orleans
Nationality  |  American
Political party  |  Republican
Spouse(s)  |  (1) Sara Jackson Sutterfield

(2) Teresa Ann Case "Teri" Sutterfield (married 1984-2018, his death)

Children  |  James R. Sutterfield, Jr.

Dana Christen Sutterfield
Parents:
James Dayton and Alba Spraker Sutterfield

Residence  |  New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Alma mater |  University of Texas

Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Tulane University Law School

Occupation  |  Attorney
Religion  |  Protestant

James R. Sutterfield, Sr., also known as Jim Sutterfield (August 6, 1942) - November 9, 2018),[1] was an attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana, who served a half-term as a Republican state representative from 1970 to 1972.[2]

## Biography[edit]

The son of James Dayton and Alba Spraker Sutterfield, he enrolled as a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans, which he attended until transferring to the University of Texas at Austin in 1962. After completing his undergraduate studies, he enrolled at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and in 1967, graduated with a Bachelor of Laws. In 1981, he obtained a Master of Laws, with distinction, from the Tulane University Law School, also in New Orleans. He was admitted to the practice of law in Louisiana in 1967 and the District of Columbia and the United States Supreme Court in 1977. His practice through his Sutterfield & Webb firm at 650 Poydras Street concentrates on maritime and insurance law. In 1993, Sutterfield obtained licensing to practice in Texas.[3][1]

Sutterfield won a special election to succeed Democrat Representative Nat G. Kiefer, who was instead elected to the Louisiana State Senate to fill a vacancy created by a member's death. He was the first Republican to be elected to public office from New Orleans since Reconstruction. He represented District 26, which was broken up by re-districting into single member districts and renamed. The area of his residence became District 100, with the general election held on February 1, 1972.[4]

Elected at the age of twenty-seven, Sutterfield was the only Republican in the state House during his abbreviated term.[4] Sutterfield was only the fifth Republican to have served in the Louisiana House since Reconstruction.[5] In the state Senate, A. C. "Ace" Clemons, Jr. (1921-1992) of Jennings in Jefferson Davis Parish, served as a Republican, but he had been last elected in 1968 as a Democrat, with the second administration of Governor John J. McKeithen.[6]

He was a member of the Southern Yacht Club and the Bienville Club. In addition to his legal practice for which he had, according to his obituary, "a piercing intellect," he was an expert fisherman and gourmet chef. From January 1997, until his death, he served as Honorary Consul General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, for the states of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee, upon appointment of that island nation. In 2015, he became the Dean (presiding officer) of the Louisiana Consular Corps.[1]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 R. "Jim" Sutterfield Sr. James Sutterfield obituary. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (November 16, 2018).
2. ↑ James Sutterfield. Mylife.com. Retrieved on February 18, 2021.
3. ↑ James R. "Jim" Sutterfield. texasbar.com. Retrieved on February 18, 2021; some of the material may not be accessible on-line.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024. Louisiana House of Representatives. Retrieved on February 18, 2021.
5. ↑ Preceding Sutterfield as Republicans in the Louisiana House of Representatives were Morley Hudson and Taylor Walters O'Hearn (1907-1997) of Shreveport (1964-1968 legislative session), Roderick Miller of Lafayette (1966-1968), and E. Clark Gaudin of Baton Rouge (1967-1968). Gaudin subsequently returned to serve from 1972 to 1992 as well.
6. ↑ Membership in the Louisiana State Senate Since 1880. senate.la.gov. Retrieved on February 18, 2021.