Gary A. Sutton, a longtime resident of College Park, Md., who was an active member of several D.C. area LGBTQ social organizations before and after his retirement as a federal government worker, died on July 17. He was 62.

His partner of 35 years, Edward Leddy, said the cause of death was a heart attack.

A write-up on Sutton’s life that Leddy helped prepare for the funeral home where a celebration of life for Sutton will be held on Aug. 15 says Sutton’s life “was filled with warmth and laughter” and he was a “cherished son” of the community in Prince George’s County, Md., where he lived for nearly all of his life.

He graduated from the county’s Crossland High School in Camp Springs, Md., shortly before he “dedicated his career to the Environmental Protection Agency, serving with commitment and integrity,” the write-up says. Leddy said Sutton worked at the EPA’s D.C. headquarters for about 20 years before his retirement.

“Outside of work, Gary was known for his passion for gardening, often found tending to flowers and crafting beautiful landscapes,” the write-up says. “His creative soul shone through his watercolor paintings and intricate ink prints, leaving behind a legacy of artistry,” it says.

“Gary’s life was enriched by his love for sharing meals with friends, where his stories and laughter would light up the room,” the write-up that Leddy helped prepare continues. “He was an active member of several clubs, including Prime Timers, the Four Seasons Garden Club, the Montgomery County Men’s Club, and Ushers, where his presence was always full and appreciated.”

According to Leddy, all those groups, based in the D.C. metro area, had mostly gay/LGBTQ members. He said he and Sutton first met in 1991 at a meeting of the Four Seasons Garden Club. He said the two began dating and soon became a couple before Sutton moved into Leddy’s College Park house in 1994, where the couple lived until Sutton’s passing.

“It’s going to be very different for me now,” Leddy said. “He was very outgoing, loved his stories, loved laughter,” Leddy said, adding that he will miss their eating out with friends and sharing time together at home. He pointed to his and Sutton’s time traveling both across the U.S. and to Europe in past years.

“Gary’s life was a testament to the beauty of laughter, friendship, and heartfelt connections,” the write-up concludes. “He will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by all who knew him.”

In addition to his partner, the write-up says Sutton is survived by his sister Margo Arnold and her husband Randy, nephews Michael and Brandon Arnold, Brandon’s wife Renee, and a grandniece, Emily Arnold, “all of whom will carry forward his memory and joy.” Also among the survivors are his many friends in the D.C. metro area.

The celebration of life is scheduled to take place Saturday, Aug. 15, from 2-4 p.m. at the Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home at 4400 Powder Mill Road in Beltsville, Md.

Further details of the event and the ability to sign and post messages to an online guestbook can be accessed here. 

The Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing and support services for homeless LGBTQ youth in the D.C. metro area, announced on July 20 that its founding executive director, Brian Watson, has passed away.

In a statement the Alston Foundation called Watson “one of Washington, D.C.,’s most passionate advocates for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness.”

Neither the statement nor others who knew Watson have disclosed the cause of death or his age. Longtime LGBTQ community activist Rayceen Pendarvis said she heard only that Watson’s passing followed “a long time illness.”

“The origins of the Wanda Alston Foundation can be traced to a meeting convened by then-Mayor Anthony Williams at the request of Wanda Alston, the Mayor’s Director of LGBTQ Affairs,” the statement says.

“During that meeting, Brian spoke powerfully about the growing crisis of homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth in the District of Columbia and the urgent need for dedicated housing and support services,” it says. “His advocacy helped crystalize a vision that every young person deserves a safe place to call home.”

The statement points out that following Alston’s untimely death, Watson joined other community leaders “to transform that vision into reality by establishing the Wanda Alston Foundation in her memory.”

It says that today the Alston Foundation “proudly carries forward the mission Brian helped create by providing emergency and transitional housing, counseling, workforce development, life-skills training, and other supportive services that empower LGBTQ+ youth to achieve stability, independence, and hope for the future.”

Watson’s LinkedIn page says he served as executive director of the Alston Foundation from July 2013 to March 2014.  The Washington Blade reported in April 2014 that the Alston Foundation announced in a March 11, 2014, statement that Watson had resigned to “pursue other opportunities.”   

His LinkedIn page shows he worked for or with in a supporting role three local nonprofit organizations since leaving the Alston Foundation, including serving from February 2019 to November 2019 as a Methamphetamine Services Specialist for the D.C. group HIPS, which provides services for drug users and sex workers.

According to his LinkedIn page, from October 2014 to “present,” he also served as Chief Innovation Officer for the Propel Foundation, Inc., which he described as a “501c3 nonprofit organization founded in D.C. that works to strengthen nonprofit organizations through fiscal sponsorship and capacity building.”

A Facebook posting by his brother, Vidale Watson, says his family will be making arrangements for a memorial service and will share the date, time, and location once the details have been finalized.

“There are no words to describe the heartbreak our family is feeling,” Vidale Watson wrote. “While we are grateful for every prayer, kind word, and act of support we’ve received over the past week, this loss is still incredibly fresh.”

Frank Larue Asher, described by friends and family members as an acclaimed urban gardener who operated a nonprofit nursery business in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood from around 2008 until his retirement in 2018 when he moved to Cumberland, Md., and served on the board of a local museum, died July 15.

His longtime friend Raphael Aguon said his passing followed a years-long battle with cancer.

“He was a master gardener who worked diligently to make beautiful spaces for us passersby to enjoy and be inspired,” Aguon said in a Facebook posting. “Frank was kind, and fierce when it came to advocating for LGBTQ rights,” Aguon wrote. “He was deeply loving, sensitive, intelligent, inquisitive, and wondrously creative.”

A Washington Blade profile on Asher published in 2014 reported he was a native of California who moved to D.C. in 1994 as a conference organizer and a short time later began upgrading “sidewalk tree boxes” near his then Dupont Circle home before taking a job managing a local floral shop.

He next started a local landscaping business called Fairies Crossing that specialized in residential, rooftop, and commercial installations, he told the Blade.

In 2008, Asher opened his nursery called the Old City Farm and Guild in what had been a trash-strewn empty lot across from his then new nearby home in the city’s Shaw neighborhood.

Located at 925 Rhode Island Ave., N.W., the sprawling nursery offered a wide range of plant-related items such as seedlings, flowering plants, vegetable plants, shrubs, soils and compost, and gardening supplies. Described by Asher as a place “where people and plants come together,” the Old City Farm and Guild also became a community gathering place.

The Blade profile on Asher reported it soon began hosting performances by local musicians “in a step-down oval space serving as an amphitheater for outdoor neighborhood dances and movie nights projecting films onto a whitewashed wall.”

Asher stated in online postings that in 2018 he sold his businesses to retire and moved to Cumberland, Md., where, among other things, he served on the board of Gilchrist Museum of the Arts.

At the time of his passing the museum released a statement calling Asher “a talented local artist, a devoted supporter of the museum, a former board member, and, above all, a genuinely kind soul. His passion for the arts and his generosity touched countless lives, leaving a lasting impact on our community.”

Melissa Ryan, Asher’s niece, appeared to highlight Asher’s life as he was known by friends and family members in her own Facebook posting.

“He loved people, animals, and plants, all living things were respected and loved,” she wrote. “He was an actor, an artist, an author, an amazing gardener, heavily involved in his communities, always helping, seeking out needs and doing anything he could to fulfill them.”