Charles Greer Suttlemyre, Jr.

Charles Greer Suttlemyre, Jr. 75, of Table Rock Farm, Morganton, NC died Monday, July 11, 2016 at Burke Hospice and Palliative Care. Born in Marion, NC on June 17, 1941 he was the second son of the late Charles and Ruth Whitley Suttlemyre. They moved to Morganton when Greer was three years old, where his father became a prominent merchant.
Greer attended the public schools of Burke County and graduated from Morganton High School Class of 1959. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from Western Carolina State University in 1963 and then received a master’s degree from the same university several years later. Greer attended Oxford University in England where he received his PhD. in history in 1991, and his thesis was PROPIETARY POLICY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, 1663-1729. At Oxford, he rowed for the internationally famous Oxford Rowing Team. After returning to North Carolina he taught at North Carolina State University for a time and established the NC State Rowing Team. The first racing scull acquired by State was named in his honor. Greer also taught history at Louisburg College in Louisburg, NC.
During the Vietnam War, he served four years in the United States Navy and was honorably discharged.
Prior to Greer’s entrance to Oxford, he was on the original staff of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources’ program to identify and nominate state structures to the National Register of Historic Places, and he was coordinator in charge of Western North Carolina for this program. He was a longtime member of what is now known as Preservation North Carolina.
Greer descended from some of the state’s oldest and most distinguished families, and was a member of the North Carolina Society of Colonial Wars, and the North Carolina Society of Sons of the Revolution. A charter member of the prestigious St. Andrew’s Society of North Carolina he served as chairman of the Scholarship Committee, and was on the Publications Committee for the formal history, A HERITAGE PRESERVED, celebrating the first quarter century of the society in 1996. When the Carolina Tartan was designed in 1982, Dr. Suttlemyre had the first kilt made from the newly created tartan. The Fayetteville Pipe Band adopted the tartan for its use soon afterward, and in 1991 the tartan became by legislative act, the official tartan of the State of North Carolina. The State of South Carolina followed suit and it remains the official tartan of both the Carolinas. Dr. Suttlemyre is a former president of the Montreat Scottish Society of Montreat, NC; former chairman of the Historic Burke Foundation and a strong supporter of a variety of historic preservation projects in Burke County. He was a lifelong member of the Democratic Party.
A longtime and devout member of Grace Episcopal Church in Morganton, Greer served several terms as junior warden, vestryman, sang in the choir for twenty years, and was chairman of the Grace Church Foundation. He worked for the national Episcopal Church Foundation in their New York City Offices for a short time, but returned to Morganton when his parents became seriously ill.
On Greer’s return to Morganton he became director of the Burke County Board of Elections from which he retired a few years ago. At the same time, he joined the Oak Hill Ruritan Club, and rose to become president.
Greer is survived by his longtime partner, George Allen Carey; two nephews; two great nieces; cousins; and a host of friends across North Carolina. Greer’s parents and his only brother, Herbert Whitley Suttlemyre, predeceased him.
Dr. Suttlemyre’s funeral will be conducted at Grace Episcopal Church in Morganton, by the Rev. Marshall Jolly on Saturday, July 16, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. The inurnment will follow the ceremony in the Grace Church Memorial Garden. Family and friends will gather for fellowship in the Parish Hall.
Memorial contributions may be made to Historic Burke Foundation, PO Box 915, Morganton, NC 28680, Grace Episcopal Church, 303 S. King Street, Morganton, NC 28655, or to a charity of choice.