James C. Suttie was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 14, 1922. After a tour of duty in the Army Airborne Division between 1943 and 1946, he studied at DePauw University, receiving an undergraduate degree in Economics in 1947. He next attended the University of Eugene, Oregon, as a music major, and between 1949 and 1950, worked in the installation and service department of the Reuter Organ Company. Between 1950 and 1953, he studied at both Garrett Theological Seminary and Northwestern University, where he took a degree in Christian Education. In 1964, he received an M.S. degree in Library Science, and worked twenty years as a librarian at St. Paul's School of Theology in Independence, Missouri. In 1953, he married Mary Josephine Beimer, and they had three sons. James C. Suttie's life-long project was a hand-typed, geographical index of all organs in the United States, which he put together between 1947 and 1985 in collaboration with Eugene M. Nye of Seattle, Washington, and Frederick R. Webber of Mount Vernon, New York. James C. Suttie was an avid member of the Organ Historical Society, and after his death, his wife donated his collection of organ memorabilia to the American Organ Archives of the Organ Historical Society. James C. Suttie died in Independence, Missouri, on February 1, 1985.
From the description of A geographical index of American organs compiled by James C. Suttie, 1947-1985. (Organ Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 678627175
