After 68 years of sharing her love and kindness with the world, Anita Lavezzi Sutton passed away on January 22, 2022, surrounded by her family following a courageous battle with cancer.  Anita is remembered as the most loving mother to Danny Sutton, Tracy (Travis Jones) Sutton, Julie Sutton, and Jenni (Don) Hayes, as well as a devoted grandmother to Ryker Sutton, Dylan Jones, Kensi Jones, and Meghan Hayes, in addition to spending many loving years with her partner, Bill Heyse.

Anita attended St. Eugene’s Elementary School, Resurrection High School and Northern Illinois University before beginning work at DCASR. Later she served the community through extensive involvement in Adolph Link Elementary PTA, utilized her exemplary organizational skills as a Corporate Event Planner at Gallagher Insurance, and shared her love of plants and flowers in the Garden Department at Home Depot. The truest gifts she shared with the world, however, were the compassion she showed as a mother, sister, aunt, friend, and neighbor. She devoted herself to her family and community, from raising her own children and caring for her grandchildren, to supporting and laughing with her sisters and brother, to babysitting and encouraging her nieces and nephews at sporting events and dance recitals, to welcoming neighbors and friends into her home where she affectionately became known as “Mama Sutton.” Anita had a smile, a hug, or a snack for anyone who needed one; she could always be counted on to remember birthdays and anniversaries and to have just the right Tupperware for any occasion.

Anita is welcomed into heaven by her parents, Charles and Margaret Lavezzi, sister Jeannette Lavezzi, brother-in-law Alan Rawls, and nephew Ricky Scheer. She is survived by her sisters, Margie (Ron) Majka, Sharyn (the late Alan) Rawls, Donna (Rich) Scheer, and Janet (Randy) Christie, and her brother Chuck (Judie) Lavezzi. She is also loved and will be missed by her nieces and nephews: Jen (Perry) Petersen and Amy (Bill) Kladis; Tricia (Mike) Shumaker, Tim (Laurie) Rawls, Marcie (Dave) Krueger and Jeff Rawls; Michael (Amanda) Scheer, Janelle (Ed) VanDeSampel, Natalie (Brian) White, Jay and Kevin Scheer; Kelley (Josh) Boomer and Carrie (Khalil) Khourshid; Paulette Wolff and Cal, Tony, Allie and Joey Lavezzi, and 26 great nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be Friday, January 28 from 9:00 am until the funeral Mass at 11:00 am at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Schaumburg. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the “Anita Sutton Grandchildren Trust,” established for the benefit of her grandson, Dylan.