In Fordland, Mo., Sutton's grandfather remembered a grandson who as a boy had "a rough road that he had to live."
"His mother died when he was a baby. She was killed in a car wreck in California when he was about 2 years old," James Sutton said.
Timothy Sutton's father, Phil, was in the Navy but raised his son as a single parent, taking his boy along as the Navy moved him to Okinawa, Japan and Jacksonville, Fla.
"I did a lot of raising him by myself," Phil Sutton said.
His son realized his hardships as a widower and single parent and pitched in, Phil Sutton said.
"He was a great big support for me. Once he got old enough to realize what was going on and all the problems in my life, he stepped up and picked a role and said, 'Here's what we need to do. The past is gone, and you can't change it. Just go on with life.' "
The two were not just father and son, but became friends and partners in the household. His boy loved to fish and wanted to hunt as soon as he could handle a rifle, Phil Sutton said.
"He was a fun-loving person, very easy to get along with. He'd bend over backwards to do whatever he could for you to try to help you out," he said.
"The first time I took him fly-fishing, he was about 11-years-old, and he pierced his ear with a fly because he didn't cast it right," he said.
For his 12th birthday, his father bought him a Remington deer rifle.
James Sutton said his grandson "had a good head on his shoulders" and did well in school.
In high school, Timothy Sutton was so good at computer drafting that a teacher enlisted him to tutor college students in the subject.
"He was supposed to go on to college, and we had that all set up," his father said. But Timothy Sutton decided against college right away and opted for the Army.
"He never really gave me a reason, other than he felt like he wasn't settled enough to stay in college and wanted to travel a little bit and see the world," his father said.
Timothy Sutton came out of Army basic training just four months before the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, his father said. He followed the invasion force into Iraq a month later with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's first deployment.
His wife Angela, the daughter of a career Army soldier, lives in Colorado Springs, where the two met.
I would like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
"Brave Rifles!"(3rd ACR Motto)