- Date Of Birth: October 9, 1942
- Date Of Death: March 31, 2021
- State: Michigan
Carolyn Sue Opthoff Sutter passed away unexpectedly at her home. She was born October 9, 1942 in Kalamazoo, MI a daughter of the late John and Lorraine (Kloosterman) Opthoff.
Carolyn attended Kalamazoo Christian Schools and received a BA from Calvin College. In high school and college, she enjoyed participating in the debate teams and choirs. Moving to the St. Joseph, MI area after college, she worked as a guidance counselor, science teacher and English teacher for Coloma High School and Hull Junior High School in Benton Harbor. She had two children and then went to work for the Benton Harbor Public Library, eventually earning her MLS and becoming Director of the Library and Director of the Library System of Southwest Michigan.
In 1977 Carolyn and the two children moved to Long Beach, CA where she became Director of the Library and earned a MPA from California State University. After earning an MPA from California State University, Carolyn was given a staff assignment to coordinate and plan for computerized applications for all city departments. From this, in 1981, Long Beach became an early user of police CAD systems, microwave meter reading, synchronized traffic lights and a fully computerized library system.
Her Master’s theses was on this process and it was published. In 1981 Carolyn was appointed to General Manager of Tidelands which put her in charge of the city’s oil drilling leases and subsidence control, offshore and on, of shoreline recreational and commercial development and of the convention center. In 1988 Carolyn moved to Laguna Niguel in Orange County where she worked in real estate investment.
Carolyn moved back to Michigan and for 11 years served as Director of the Vicksburg District Library. Carolyn is survived by two children, Chandra Sutter and Stephan Sutter; daughter-in-law, Toni Sutter; two grandchildren, Chance Van Michael Sutter and Storie Lee; brother, Douglas (Donna) Opthoff; sister, Joan Opthoff; and several nieces and nephews.
