Blog

Sandy was a loving and caring daughter, mom, and grandma. Her grandchildren were the joy of her life and she could always be found cheering them on at one of their sporting events or activities. She was a dedicated daughter to her mother, Eva, caring for her daily for several years prior to her death in 2012. Having lived in Chillicothe her entire life, she had many lifelong friends. In her younger years, she was an avid bowler, traveling throughout the U.S. to many tournaments. She enjoyed working in her yard, taking walks around town and staying active at the community center. She will leave a hole in the hearts of all who knew her.Sandy was born on April 9, 1944 in Peoria, IL to Leo and Eva Gramke. She married Richard Sutton on March 13, 1965. He preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her parents; a baby sister, Sarah; and her brother, Jerry Gramke, who passed away two days prior to her passing.

Sandra Kay Sutton, age 77, of Chillicothe, passed away at 3:13 a.m. on Thursday, December 23, 2021 at UnityPoint Health Methodist in Peoria, following at week long hospital stay for COVID-19.Sandy was a loving and caring daughter, mom, and grandma.  Her grandchildren were the joy of her life and she could always be found cheering them on at one of their sporting events or activities.  She was a dedicated daughter to her mother, Eva, caring for her daily for several years prior to her death in 2012.  Having lived in Chillicothe her entire life, she had many lifelong friends.  In her younger years, she was an avid bowler, traveling throughout the U.S. to many tournaments.  She enjoyed working in her yard, taking walks around town and staying active at the community center.  She will leave a hole in the hearts of all who knew her.

Sandy was born on April 9, 1944 in Peoria, IL to Leo and Eva Gramke.  She married Richard Sutton on March 13, 1965.  He preceded her in death.  She was also preceded in death by her parents; a baby sister, Sarah; and her brother, Jerry Gramke, who passed away two days prior to her passing.”Throughout her ordeal, she showed incredible courage, grace, and humor,” the obituary said. “She was a loyal friend who cared deeply about those she loved. She had a wonderful sense of humor and a quick wit. She was feisty and competitive when playing sports and a bit of a perfectionist.”

Sutton was described as a “kind, empathetic soul who was always thinking of others. She loved sports, animals, music, art, sneakers, Harry Styles, Christmas, Disney movies, concerts, and her family.”Sutton “excelled at sports from a young age and participated in basketball, softball, cross county, track, and soccer. Soccer was her true passion and she made life-long friends from all over central Illinois,” the obituary said.

Sutton had hoped to pursue a career in the medical field after being inspired by the caregivers she had during her two years as a patient, reads her obituary. She also worked briefly at Brown Animal Hospital.Funeral services will follow at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 29, at the church with Pastor Keith Lindgren officiating. Burial will be in Chillicothe City Cemetery.Visitation services will be held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 28 at Northwoods Community Church, 10700 N. Allen Road in Peoria. Davison-Fulton Woolsey-Wilton Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

“We have come to accept that the miracle we had hoped for is not to be, and Tessa’s days are short. It breaks me to write that but it is our reality. We have decided to stop the chemo in hopes of improving her counts and decreasing her need for transfusions. She is alert at times but increasingly less so and sleeps most of the time. She is confused at times and/or has difficulty expressing her thoughts which causes frustration for her. Bringing her home is a possibility but for the time being, we will keep her here where she is receiving great care. Her comfort is our main concern. The OSF Hospice House is also another possibility if some details can be worked out. “This is such a difficult post to make. First of all we want to thank our community for the endless, astonishing support and love for Tessa and all of us. It truly holds us up on the worst of our days. To realize Tessa has touched so many lives and is loved by so many is incredible and warms our hearts daily. Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.She was battling through treatment and surgery and attempting a comeback when she was re-diagnosed with cancer in 2022. She was moved into hospice on Thursday, after her parents posted this message on the Team Tessa site:

PEORIA — Tessa Sutton, the beloved Dunlap High School soccer player whose battle with cancer drew support from teams all over central Illinois and beyond, died on Friday afternoon.

Sutton was diagnosed with a rare malignant chest wall tumor at age 15. Her teammates rallied around her. Opposing teams did fundraisers and some — like a team from Streator, which had never met her — wrote her name on their shoes.

“Thanks to the staff here at OSF Children’s Hospital for ‘bending’ rules and allowing Tessa to see so many friends and family members including her 4-legged friend, Luca. They have all been so wonderful and are working hard to keep Tessa comfortable. They went above and beyond to make her birthday special. I’m sorry I didn’t get pictures of all the visitors she has had.

She was predeceased by : her grandparents, Richard Sutton and Sandy Sutton. She is survived by : her parents, Rich Sutton and Michelle Sutton (Weber); her siblings, Caleb Aeschliman (Megan) of Chicago, Josh Aeschliman of Peoria, Hannah Sutton of Bartonville and Sarah Sutton of Pekin; her nephew Carter Aeschliman of Chicago; and her grandparents, Robert and Betty Weber of Lacon.

With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Tessa Caroline Sutton of Dunlap, Illinois, born in Peoria, Illinois, who passed away on March 24, 2023 at the age of 17. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family.Sutton was stricken with cancer while a Freshman — and while she was just beginning to make a name for herself on the Varsity level Dunlap soccer team.“She motivates me every single day,” said Gleason, a teammate, to 25 Sports prior to Tessa Sutton’s passing. “Every time…I’m doing something hard, you just think about her — biggest motivation factor. We’re so proud of her. One of the strongest people I know of, for sure. Super proud.”“We’ve said we’re a family, and it’s because of her. She’s brought us together,” said Peter Cenek, Dunlap soccer coach, to 25 Sports, prior to Tessa Sutton’s passing. “What she’s going through has helped the girls realize every time they step foot on the field is an opportunity. She’s a teacher. I’m extremely proud of her.”

Tessa Sutton’s impact was felt far and wide, with competing teams from Peoria and throughout Central Illinois honoring her. The Murray Baker Bridge spent some time this past week lit in purple for her.DUNLAP, Ill. – You might say it was a difficult week this past week for local sports — or, more specifically, those who followed and loved their student athletes. We’ve detected that JavaScript is disabled in this browser. Please enable JavaScript or switch to a supported browser to continue using twitter.com. You can see a list of supported browsers in our Help Center. Tessa Sutton showed her fighting spirit last year when the Dunlap soccer player was diagnosed with cancer in late May, just as the high school season was nearing a finish.“Every single game that Dunlap goes to I feel like someone is doing something, whether we are there or not. We have other parents who reach out and let us know what’s going on,” Michelle said. “(Tessa) knows a lot of the girls from other teams because of club soccer, but there are teams like Streator, Normal West and Normal Community that we don’t know anyone from and they’ll send us texts and messages with signs up for Tessa.”