Debbie Snapp
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Sutton and Mildred Wimberly will celebrate their 75th Wedding Anniversary on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at home with family and friends visiting from their vehicles.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, guests are asked to stay in their vehicles. The vehicles will be directed to line up single file on Dogwood Street and directed to drive around the Wimberly home located at 1050 E. Washington St. Monticello Police Chief Fred Mosley will begin the procession behind the family home on Dogwood Street at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, until 6 p.m. The Wimberly's will be seated outside their home to welcome their guests.
Sutton and Mildred were married on Oct. 21, 1945 before moving to Monticello just three years later. They have two children, Elaine (Greg) Whittington and David (Lynette) Wimberly; three grandchildren, Amelia (Dave) Broden, Justin Wimberly and Jacob Whittington; and five great-grandchildren, Kelly and August Broden, and Makayla, Seth and Henry Wimberly.
Thomas Sutton “Sut” Wimberly, was born on Feb. 22, 1920 in Cochran, Ga., to Taylor and Mary Blackshear Wimberly; he was the fifth of 10 children.
Mildred Elaine Coley was born on Oct. 9, 1921 to Lottie and David Coley in Danville, Ga. Her dad passed away when she was just five years old. Her mother then married Lovie Nobles; 10 years later her baby brother was born.
Sut and Mildred grew up in Cochran, attending the same schools in Cary, Ga. They've been sweethearts since elementary school.
“Mom and Dad are the only siblings alive from their families,” shares their daughter Elaine. “They were both raised in Georgia but have lived in Monticello, Florida for over 73 years. They continue to live in the same house where they raised me and my brother.”
Sut was a WWII Army paratrooper with the 509th Infantry, the first group to land in a foreign country, with Operation Torch. He is the only one from his platoon living today. After the military he worked as manager of the Van H. Priest 5&10 cent store in Monticello, for more than 40 years. He also worked at the Madison store and warehouse locations. He was also president of the first Lions Club in Jefferson County.
He received his GED and electrical schooling from Lively Vocational School in Tallahassee; attending classes at night while raising his family. He had to leave high school after completing the eight grade, to work on the family farm and in the cotton fields along with his sisters and brothers during the Depression era.
After high school Mildred continued her college education in Atlanta, Ga., staying with one of her aunts. After moving to Monticello she got a job working for Production Credit Association, for over 37 years, now known as Farm Credit Service.
Both worked for a time at the Jefferson County Kennel Club at night.
They stay close to home now, raising satsumas and other citrus in their yard. They are longtime members of the First Baptist Church.
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