Nathan Suter: Civic Pillar, Coach, Friend

The Montpelier community lost a leading light when Nathan Suter, 52, died of a heart attack on Tuesday, May 13. Suter wore many hats and touched many lives as a coach, equity and justice advocate, mentor, arts advocate, business founder, co-worker, and a friend. 

Born  Feb. 14, 1973 in the Panama Canal Zone where his father was stationed in the United States Air Force, Suter grew up in Indiana and Poughkeepsie, New York. He received his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Haverford College and a master’s of fine arts in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute. 

Suter’s CV is long and impressive. From 2006 to 2016, he was the executive director of the Helen Day Art Center, now The Current, in Stowe, where he initiated youth and adult education programs and created an internship and professional development program for emerging artists and cultural professionals. In 2016, he founded BUILD, a business consultancy focused on “Strategy, Leadership, Culture, and Change.”

Suter was also involved with justice-based and community-focused organizations, as a board member for Migrant Justice, treasurer for the Peace and Justice Center in Burlington, and as a commissioner for the Montpelier Commission for Recovery and Resilience. He also co-founded Roots Division, a visual arts nonprofit in San Francisco, for which he continued to serve as a board member. 

“Nathan was just a force,” said Ben Doyle, of the Montpelier Commission. “He was an integral part of the formation and success of the commission.” He was the “Jiminy Cricket” of the group, its conscience, Doyle said, keeping a focus on equity and justice and always considering “who is not at the table.” 

But perhaps Suter’s biggest community impact was as coach for the Montpelier Middle and High School Track and Field teams. Matt Link, athletic director of Montpelier High School, described Suter as one of the most dedicated coaches ever involved with Montpelier youth sports. 

“He coached everything,” Link said, adding that Suter even earned a certification to coach pole-vaulting so he could work with students who wanted to compete in that event. The track-and-field program, which, Link said, now boasts over 90 students, had nearly disappeared until Suter and other community members revitalized it. 

Asked about some of the biggest athletic achievements in which Suter played a role, Link said “the biggest accomplishment in terms of coaching for Nathan is not kids who had notable successes but the kids who would have never come out for a sport until he was here as a coach … We have pole vaulters, high jumpers, long jump, triple jump, relay teams full of kids who would have never been on a sports team let alone competing in a meet. He paved the paths of opportunity for these kids to run on.” 

“His lasting legacy on our programs will be felt for years, decades to come,” Link said. “He was an amazing guy who will be missed sorely.” 

This sentiment was echoed by a group of Montpelier track-and-field parents who spoke with The Bridge. 

Laury Saligman credited Suter for igniting a love for running in her daughter by believing in her. “He told the kids, ‘Montpelier cheers for all the kids,’” she said. “… It was about running as fast as you could and being a good athlete. But what he was building in them was being all they could be as humans.”

“Everybody was important to him,” said Christine Zachai. “It didn’t matter how fast you ran, or what your pronouns were. He wanted you there and wanted to help you achieve your greatest potential, whatever you interpreted that to be,” she said. 

Dan Voisin, of Montpelier, who coached alongside Suter, said he always found the good. If a runner were not to win a race, Voisin said, Suter would focus on the positive, such as the runner shaving time off of their personal best. “There was a switch that he could just lever,” Voisin said, “and make that kid understand it’s not about these huge improvements. It’s incremental gains. It’s constant progress.” 

“It’s a testament to Nathan that the fledgling Main Street squad brought home third place in last year’s middle school track state championship,” said Sean Sheehan, a fellow Montpelier track parent and coach. “But it’s a far bigger testament to his leadership, philosophy, and role-modelling to see how the kids support each other at practice and in meets.” 

Lyn Munno, also of Montpelier, spoke to Suter’s omnipresence in the community. “He’s been a personal friend for many years,” she said. “We overlapped with work. We overlapped with school advocacy. There’s hardly a part of life in Montpelier that Nathan wasn’t a part of.” 

“Everyone who came into contact with Nathan was impressed by his dedication, community-mindedness, and the positive outlook he brought to the community,” Mayor Jack McCullough said in a proclamation, along with noting Suter’s many contributions and conveying sympathy to the Suter family. McCullough has also directed the city of Montpelier flag to be flown at half-mast for one week in tribute to Suter. 

Suter is survived by his wife, Morgan Lloyd, a teacher at Union Elementary School, and their two children Amani and Asa. 

A GoFundMe has been created to support the family. Contribute at gofundme.com/support-for-the-family-of-nathan-suter