Michael John Sutch

Michael John Sutch was born on July 12, 1946, in Kankakee, Illinois. The eldest of four children born to USAF Lt. Col. Victor D. and Rebecca (Irion) Sutch, Mike’s family moved several times during his early years before settling in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where Victor taught history at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Mike graduated from Air Force Academy High School in 1964. He then joined the United States Army and served in Korea and Japan between 1964 and 1968. Upon his discharge, Mike attended Colorado State University and, later, Adams State College.

Mike married Kathleen Grimes in 1969. In 1975 the couple and their two children settled in central Iowa, living variously in Ames and Gilbert. The couple divorced in 1981.

An aspiring science fiction writer, Mike published two short stories in the 1970’s: “Nascent” (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, May 1975) and “Phantom’s Hell” (Galileo, Summer 1978). He completed several other unpublished stories and novels during his lifetime. In 1977, Mike became a data processor at Donnely’s Marketing in Nevada, Iowa, where he worked for more than a decade.

In 1989, Mike earned his Bachelor of Arts in English (Technical Writing) from Iowa State University. Shortly thereafter, he became employed in the IT department at the Iowa Department of Transportation in Ames, where he worked until his retirement. Mike married Cheryl Butler in 1991, with the marriage ending in divorce after several years.

During the last years of his life, Mike battled many medical issues which frequently left him hospitalized and increasingly dependent on daily assistance. He succumbed to those illnesses on February 3, 2026, at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames. He was 79 years old.

Mike enjoyed playing board, card, and role-playing games with family and friends. He was a lifelong avid reader of science fiction, fantasy, and westerns. He enjoyed action and genre films, as well as a wide variety of narrative television series. His wry sense of humor was frequently on display during family gatherings and in conversation with his many friends.

Mike is survived by two younger siblings, Andrew Sutch and Jennifer Sutch, both of whom reside in the Kansas City metropolitan area, as well as by his sons, Christopher Michael Sutch, of Ames, and Mark Victor Sutch, of Concord, North Carolina.

A celebration of Mike’s life will be held at Stevens Memorial Chapel in Ames, at 3:00pm on Saturday, February 14.