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Connie Lou (Way) Sutton, 75, of Ankeny passed away from congestive heart failure on July 16, 2025, at home surrounded by her family.
A public celebration of life will be held on Saturday, July 26, at Ankeny Funeral Home & Crematory, 1510 W. First St., Ankeny. The visitation will begin at noon. The service and luncheon will be at 1 p.m. The family is asking attendees to wear blue, Connie’s favorite color, in her honor. A private burial of Connie’s ashes will be at Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Storm Lake on July 27.
Connie was born June 23, 1950, in Storm Lake, to Forrest Irwin Way and Margaret Mae (Tootie) (Pepper) Way. She was the oldest sister of Ronald, Donna and Peggy. She lived most of her childhood on a farm outside of Nemaha and graduated from Crestland High School in Early in 1968.
Connie attended the American Institute of Business in Des Moines in 1968, where she met William John Sutton of Rockwell City. They married on May 29, 1970, while he was on leave from the U.S. Coast Guard. They lived in New Orleans and St. Louis while Bill was in the military. After he was honorably discharged, the couple moved to Northwest Iowa. They welcomed their only child, Carrie Mae Sutton, on Aug. 31, 1978, in Storm Lake.
Throughout their years together, Connie and Bill lived in Albert City, Fort Madison, Montrose, Forest City, Newell and Carlisle. Connie was a stay-at-home mom during the 1980s, but she held administrative jobs and worked at Casey’s pizza kitchen in Carlisle in the 1970s and 1990s.
Connie faced adversity later in life with faith, strength and positivity. She became a widow at age 51, when Bill lost his battle with liver cancer caused by hemochromatosis. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2007 and Stage 2 bladder cancer in 2021. She survived a heart attack in 2022 and battled congestive heart failure for nearly three years.
Connie loved spending time with family and friends, playing games, and watching romantic comedy movies and British TV mysteries. She cared deeply for everyone she met and would share laughs and tears with them.
She is survived by her daughter Carrie Horn (Michael) of Ankeny; granddaughters, Lila Horn and Sadie Horn of Ankeny; sisters, Donna Weiss of Story City and Peggy Sills of Brinnon, Wash.; sister-in-law Teresa Way of Evergreen, Colo.; nieces: Jamie Way (Greg Dicerbo) of Evergreen, Colo.; Crista Way (Rob Roberson) of Cheyenne, Wyo.; and Jessica Sills of Ankeny; nephew James Sills (Jamie) of Pearcy, Ark.; and nine great-nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brother and great-niece.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests condolences be directed toward donations to cancer research in Connie’s name. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be left at www.ankenyfuneralhome.com for the Sutton family.
