Pauline Sutton (30 Aug 1943 - 31 Jul 2026)

Pauline died on Friday 31 July 2026. She was 1 month short of her 83rd birthday.

Pauline Fletcher was born in Taunton in 1943, and her father worked at the Hydrographic Office for 50 years. Her mother, Ida, died when Pauline was 8 years old, and her father remarried Florence and soon her twin brothers, John and Colin, were born. Schooling at North Town and Bishop Fox’s followed and she did her teacher training diploma at Rolle College in Exmouth.

On moving back to Taunton, Pauline taught at St James’ Primary School (since closed).

Pauline was a committed Christian all her life and this guided many of her principles and life choices. It was through Silver Street Baptist Church that she met her husband Michael Sutton, also a teacher, and they married in 1966 (on the day England won the world cup). Anna was born in 1970 and then Joseph in 1973.

Pauline started to return to teaching in the early 80s, starting as a dinner lady and then a supply teacher and then full time RE teacher at Bishop Fox’s where she taught RE for 20 years and also become a Year Head. Her no-nonsense manner could silence a room in seconds, but she also had a great concern for her students’ well being and particularly championed those students who had overcome difficult backgrounds. She moved with the school to its new premises in the late 1990s and retired in the early 2000s.

At retirement she became chair of Open Door, the Taunton charity for rough sleepers. Here she oversaw the creation of their first premises in Wood Street and the current building in Mount Street. She saw this very much as a calling and part of her duty in faith.

Pauline was never one to live a quiet life and over the years she ran 2 allotments, a large garden, sold flowers and knitted items at the Country Market WI shop in Bath Place, was active in her local church and neighbourhood and increasingly cared for Michael who died in 2020. Pauline died the day after their 60th wedding anniversary, she had been her normal busy self up until June and died peacefully after a short illness.

She was a much loved, kind, funny, daft, committed, and selfless mother of Anna and Joseph, grandma to 4 grandchildren, and sister to her 2 brothers and a friend to many.